Quentin Tarantino Retains ‘Guard Dog To The Stars,’ Barks Gawker ‘Crossed The Journalistic Line’
Director Quentin Tarantino has upped the ante on his (rightful) rage regarding the leaked script of his would-be-upcoming, now-shelved project The Hateful Eight, suing New York City-based Gawker Media for infringing on his rights as an artist.
“Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people’s right to make a buck,” Quentin’s legal complaint reads.
“This time they’ve gone too far.”
Deadline reports the document is signed by attorney Martin Singer, but wording like that reads like it comes directly from the next Quentin Tarantino script. Tell us you wouldn’t love to hear the opening statement acted out by Samuel L. Jackson!
The argument is predicated on the fact that the Gawker piece—which remains live as of this post—contained anonymous links to copies of Tarantino’s appropriated work and encouraged its visitors to illegally read it.
“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 document contends that the post “brazenly encourages Gawker visitors to read the screenplay illegally with an invitation to ‘enjoy’ it.”
This isn’t Singer’s first rodeo; in fact, it’s not even his first action on behalf of Quentin Tarantino. The New York Times called Singer “the Guard Dog to the Stars” in a 2011 piece that detailed his previous services for Tarantino.
Mr. Singer in March filed suit for Quentin Tarantino against a neighbor and a fellow writer, Alan Ball, contending that Mr. Ball’s screeching macaws were keeping Mr. Tarantino from getting his work done.
‘That’s been resolved,’ Mr. Singer says. Mr. Tarantino has since finished his latest screenplay.
‘Some people said it’s the best script he’s ever written, because he had the peace and quiet,’ Mr. Singer says.
While this may prove a greater challenge than silencing a fellow scribe’s exotic aviary, Quentin can probably expect favorable results here. Singer was named “Entertainment Lawyer of the Year” 2012 by the Beverly Hills Bar Association, according to the bio on his firm’s Web site. The Times reveals he’s done work for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlie Sheen, Jeremy Piven and more.
“He’s ferocious and fearless, he really is,” says Sylvester Stallone.
That’s what Rambo had to say about Quentin Tarantino’s lawyer.
Worried yet, Gawker?
