Tarantino v. Miramax: The Rise of NFTs and Their Copyright Implications

Abstract

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that are part of a relatively new industry involving blockchains and cryptocurrencies. As NFTs grow in popularity, questions have arisen over NFT copyright ownership. A federal court will have the opportunity to rule on this issue for the first time in a pending case between Miramax and Quentin Tarantino. The film production company and the well-known director are in dispute over intellectual property ownership of screenplay scenes that Tarantino sold as NFTs. The outcome of the case and future laws will have a direct impact on the way NFTs are purchased and sold in the future. This essay predicts that courts will apply traditional intellectual property laws to NFTs, attaching copyrights to the underlying assets behind NFTs rather than to NFTs themselves.