'Hateful Eight' Script Update: Quentin Tarantino to Sue Gawker for Leaking Movie Screenplay; Website Says No Leak Happened
Quentin Tarantino is suing Gawker Media, the news and gossip website that posted links to a leaked copy of the screenwriter's 146-page script for his latest movie on Monday.
The Hollywood director was furious after one of Gawker Media's subsites, Defamer, published a blog entry titled "Here is the Leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script," reports CBC.
The Hollywood Reporter obtained a copy of the full complaint which states:
Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people's rights to make a buck. This time they went too far. Rather than merely publishing a news story reporting that Plaintiff's screenplay may have been circulating in Hollywood without his permission, Gawker Media crossed the journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire Screenplay illegally. Their headline boasts "Here Is the Leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script" - "Here," not someplace else, but "Here" on the Gawker website. The article then contains multiple direct links for downloading the entire Screenplay through a conveniently anonymous URL by simply clicking button-links on the Gawker page, and brazenly encourages Gawker visitors to read the Screenplay illegally with the invitation to "Enjoy!" it. There was nothing newsworthy or journalistic about Gawker Media facilitating and encouraging the public's violation of Plaintiff's copyright in the Screenplay, and it's conduct will not shield Gawker Media from liability for their unlawful activity.
Following the lawsuit filed by the Oscar-winning director, Gawker has responded to legal complaint on its website. To view the response of John Cook of Gawker, click here.
Gawker says they did not "leak" the script and elaborates:
someone unknown to Gawker put it on a web site called AnonFiles, and someone unknown to Gawker put it on a different web site called Scribd. Last Thursday, Gawker received a tip from a reader informing us that the script was on the AnonFiles site, after which Gawker published a story reporting that the script had surfaced online.
Further, Gawker puts forward that Tarantino deliberately turned the leak into a story as prior to the online publication, it begun circulating in Hollywood. "Tarantino loudly turned The Hateful Eight leak into a topic of intense news interest by speaking about it at length to Deadline Hollywood, which had itself obtained a copy."
"It was Tarantino himself who turned his script into a news story, one that garnered him a great deal of attention," continues Gawker.
The article goes on to conclude that it only published a link because it was news. Both news sites, Gawker and Defamer published the link to inform readers of what they care about and end with, "We'll be fighting this one."