Quentin Tarantino sues gossip site for link to leaked script

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Quentin Tarantino sues gossip site for link to leaked script

Director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino is suing gossip website Gawker for contributory copyright infringement, after the website linked to a copy of his unproduced script The Hateful Eight.

Tarantino filed a complaint with a Los Angeles district court on Monday, claiming Gawker was “promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire screenplay illegally.” According to the lawsuit, Gawker posted an article titled, “Here Is the Leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script”, which included links to copies of the script for the western at a “conveniently anonymous” URL.

“Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people’s rights to make a buck,” said the complaint. “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.”

The complaint also claims that Gawker solicited its readers to provide it with a copy of the work by stating, “If anyone would like to... leak the script to us, please do so at [email address].”

In a response posted on Monday afternoon, Gawker writer John Cook said the website will fight the case. He claimed that the copies of the script were leaked by unknown people and Gawker merely linked to it. Cook also claimed that Tarantino turned the leak into a news story by talking to it at length to another gossip site, Deadline Hollywood, and that Gawker was just reporting on the events.

“News of the fact that it existed on the internet advanced a story that Tarantino himself had launched, and our publication of the link was a routine and unremarkable component of our job: making people aware of news and information about which they are curious.”

Cook said that to his knowledge, no claim of contributory copyright infringement has succeeded in the US against a news source.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Attorneys explain why there are early signs that the US Supreme Court could rule in favour of ISP Cox in a copyright dispute
A swathe of UPC-related hires suggests firms are taking the forum seriously, as questions over the transitional stage begin
A win for Nintendo in China and King & Spalding hiring a prominent patent litigator were also among the top talking points
Rebecca Newman at Addleshaw Goddard, who live-reported on the seminal dispute, unpicks the trials and tribulations of the case and considers its impact
Attorneys predict how Lululemon’s trade dress and design patent suit against Costco could play out
Lawyers at Linklaters analyse some of the key UPC trends so far, and look ahead to life beyond the transition period
David Rodrigues, who previously worked at an IP boutique, said he may become more involved in transactional work at his new firm
Indian smartphone maker Lava must pay $2.3 million as a security deposit for past sales, as its dispute with Dolby over audio coding SEPs plays out
Powell Gilbert’s opening in Düsseldorf, complete with a new partner hire, continues this summer’s trend of UPC-related lateral movement
IP leaders at Brandsmiths and Bird & Bird, who were on opposing sides at the UK Supreme Court in Iconix v Dream Pairs, unpick the landmark case and its ramifications
Gift this article