Quentin Tarantino refiles 'Hateful Eight' lawsuit against Gawker

Quentin Tarantino is not backing down from his Hateful Eight lawsuit against Gawker. Though the filmmaker’s initial claim — that the website illegally promoted a leaked copy of his screenplay — was dismissed in late April, he’s taken advantage of the judge’s ruling and filed an amended complaint. Judge John F. Walter of the U.S. District Court in California determined that Tarantino failed to prove direct infringement and had no case, but left the door slightly ajar for Tarantino, giving his attorneys until May 1 to amend and refile the secondary claim for contributory infringement.

Tarantino refiled on the deadline, alleging a single count of copyright infringement — direct and contributory. According to court documents, his amended lawsuit claims, “Gawker 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 within certain limited Hollywood circles without his permission, Gawker crossed the journalistic line, first by requesting that a reader ‘leak’ an infringing copy directly to Gawker, then second, after obtaining a link to and itself directly downloading an infringing PDF copy, and then third, by promoting itself to the public as the first source to download and read the entire Screenplay illegally and directing the public to do so.”

Tarantino is asking the court for $1 million, plus damages and legal fees. Gawker did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.