Quentin Tarantino sues Gawker Media

1/29/2014

LOS ANGELES — Quentin Tarantino sued the news and gossip Web site Gawker on Monday over a post that directed readers to a leaked copy of the Oscar-winning screenwriter’s latest movie.

Tarantino’s lawsuit accuses Gawker Media LLC of contributory copyright infringement for posting a link to the 146-page script for a planned film titled The Hateful Eight last week. A link to the script was posted on Gawker’s Defamer blog and remained active Monday afternoon, despite demands from Tarantino’s lawyers to take it down, the lawsuit states.

“There was nothing newsworthy or journalistic about Gawker Media facilitating and encouraging the public’s violation of [Tarantino’s] copyright in the screenplay, and its conduct will not shield Gawker Media from liability for their unlawful activity,” the lawsuit states.

Gawker Editor-in-Chief John Cook said the company would fight the lawsuit and pointed out that the company was being sued for posting a link to the script, not the actual document.