Tarantino Sues Gawker for Posting Film Script

LOS ANGELES — Quentin Tarantino filed a suit against Gawker Media, accusing the web news service of illegally posting on its Defamer site a link to his unproduced script titled “The Hateful Eight,” The Hollywood Reporter said on Monday.

Gawker quickly responded with a post defending its posting of the link, saying Mr. Tarantino had turned the script into a legitimate news story by calling attention to its circulation after he had shown it to a small group of Hollywood associates.

Mr. Tarantino had said he might scrap the planned film based on the script, a Western, because of that leak.

The suit, which accused Gawker of facilitating copyright infringement, was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. Mr. Tarantino is represented by Martin Singer, a lawyer known for fiercely defending the interests of celebrities who believe they have been wronged.