Industry News


Judge Tosses Photographer’s Lawsuit Against Miramax Over Pulp Fiction Poster

December 3, 2021

By Hillary K. Grigonis

Miramax

Firooz Zahedi, the photographer who shot the image for the classic Pulp Fiction poster, has lost a claim against movie maker Miramax after a judge tossed his lawsuit, saying that he waited too long to file it. Zahedi recently took Miramax to court for copyright infringement, saying that the contract for the job limited the use of the image to promotion of the movie. Zahedi claim Miramax violated those terms when it used the image on consumer products for fans of the movie. 

The poster features an image of actress Uma Thurman flopped down on a bed, smoking a cigarette with a handgun and the Pulp Fiction book nearby. The Quentin Tarantino film was released in 1994, however the statute of limitations on copyright violations begins not at publication, but when the copyright holder is made aware of the violation.  

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Zahedi first realized the violation when he received an action figure with the image on it as a gift, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He didn’t start the process of filing a lawsuit until after he’d received a second gift—this one, a pair of socks bearing the image—and finally filing suit in 2020. 

A judge in Central California dismissed the case, saying that the statute of limitations had passed. The statute of limitations for a copyright violation is three years for each infringement. A 2015 Instagram photo of Zahedi holding the action figure showed that the photographer had known about the violation for more than three years.  

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The judgeJustice Dolly Geesaid that much of the original records on the image have been lost. The missing records are one of the reasons that a statute of limitations exists, she stated. While Zahedi’s case has been dismissed, the judge did note that Miramax owned copyright of the movie poster that “could plausibly be understood to cover only the poster, and not the underlying photograph.” 

The iconic poster, however, may not be quite done in court. The New York Post notes that, after the judged tossed the photographer’s lawsuit, Miramax filed a counter claim, alleging that Zahedi did not have the rights to sell prints of the photo or use it on the back cover of his book.