Tolkien Estate

For the trade name of the corporate entity that holds The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings film, stage and merchandising rights, see Middle-earth Enterprises.

The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, including the copyright for most of his works. The individual copyrights have for the most part been assigned by the estate to subsidiary entities such as the J. R. R. Tolkien Discretionary Settlement and the Tolkien charitable trust. The various holdings of the Tolkien family, including the estate, have been organized under The Tolkien Company, the directors of which were Christopher Tolkien until August 2017 and his wife Baillie Tolkien, and J. R. R. Tolkien's grandson Michael George Tolkien. The executors of the estate proper were Christopher Tolkien (died 16 January 2020^[1]), who was sole literary executor, and (succeeding J.R.R. Tolkien's lawyer Frank Williamson) Cathleen Blackburn of Maier Blackburn,^[2] who has been the estate's solicitor for many years.

Tolkien Estate trademark

Rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

Exclusive worldwide rights to motion picture, merchandising, stage and other rights in certain literary works of J. R. R. Tolkien including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were sold by Tolkien himself to United Artists in 1969, reportedly for a very small amount,^[3][4] and are currently owned by Middle-earth Enterprises (formerly Tolkien Enterprises), inc., a company controlled by Saul Zaentz until his death in 2014.^[5]

Legal issues

Film royalties

In February 2008, the Tolkien Trust sued New Line Cinema, the studio behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for £75 million claiming they had not received "even one penny" from the films.^[6] A request for punitive damages was denied in September 2008.^[7] The case was resolved out of court on 8 September 2009 with the terms not made public.

In a press release, Christopher Tolkien stated, "The Trustees regret that legal action was necessary, but are glad that this dispute has been settled on satisfactory terms that will allow the Tolkien Trust properly to pursue its charitable objectives. The Trustees acknowledge that New Line may now proceed with its proposed films of The Hobbit."^[8][9]

Gambling devices

In November 2012 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Fourth Age Limited (later Tolkien Estate, Ltd)^[10] and other plaintiffs sued several Warner Bros. affiliates alleging copyright infringement, breach of contract, and seeking declaratory relief, arguing that the defendants exceeded the scope of their rights.^[11]

The suit alleged that by producing gambling and video games using his characters, the parties had ignored the limitations of the rights purchased more than four decades prior in 1969; contending the original licence to Tolkien's works was limited to the right to sell "tangible" products such as "figurines, tableware, stationery items, clothing, and the like", but did not cover "electronic or digital rights, rights in media yet to be devised or other intangibles such as rights in services".^[12] Tolkien's estate claimed that the defendants actions had caused "irreparable harm to Tolkien's legacy".

On 11 March 2013, the Saul Zaentz Co. (doing business as Middle-earth Enterprises), the rightsholder for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit properties, filed an amended counterclaim against Fourth Age for declaratory relief, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and quantum meruit. On the same day, the Warner Parties filed an amended counterclaim against Fourth Age for breach of contract and declaratory relief.^[11][13]

The Tolkien Estate et al. attempted to block these countersuits under California's anti-SLAPP statute, claiming that Warner Brothers was interfering with their right to petition under the First Amendment to the US Constitution. On 11 July 2013, US District Judge Audrey Collins denied a motion to dismiss, disagreeing that what Warner Brothers was doing was making "disguised claims for malicious prosecution" and wrote "these claims arise out of the parties' divergent understanding of the Warner Parties' and Zaentz's rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. They are routine contract-based claims and counterclaims." In October 2015 the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that ruling.^[14]

The lawsuit was confidentially settled in July 2017.^[15]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Main article: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

On 13 November 2017, Amazon acquired the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings' appendices found at the end of The Return of the King. Amazon committed to a multi-season television series titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It features stories that are set in the Second Age.^[16] Amazon said the deal included potential for spin-off series as well.^[17] The press release referred to "previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings". Amazon is the producer in conjunction with the Tolkien Estate and The Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema.^[18]

Christopher Tolkien's resignation

On 31 August 2017, at age 93, Christopher Tolkien resigned as a director of the Tolkien Estate and the Tolkien trust, while remaining as the literary executor.^[19] He died on 16 January 2020 at the age of 95.^[20]

References

1. "'Middle-earth scholar' Christopher Tolkien dies". 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
2. "cathleen blackburn". maier blackburn. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
3. "Focus: Tolkien sold film rights to Lord of the Rings to avoid taxman". The Times 15 December 2002 (retrieved 2018-05-23).
4. "Tolkien sold film rights for £10,000". Evening Standard 13 April 2012 (retrieved 2022-09-14).
5. "Middle-earth Enterprises - ENTER SITE".
6. "". The Telegraph 17 February 2008.
7. "No punitive damages in Rings case". BBC News. 26 September 2008.
8. Miller, Ross (9 September 2009). "Great News For The Hobbit: LOTR Lawsuit Finally Settled". Screen Rant.
9. "Tolkien estate gives go-ahead for Hobbit films | JRR Tolkien | the Guardian".
10. "Making Sense of the latest Tolkien Lawsuit". The One Ring. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
11. https://www.scribd.com/document/153237062/Tolkien-Order - Fourth Age Limited et al. v. Warner Bros. Digital Distribution Inc et al.
12. "Tolkien estate sues Hobbit producers over video and gambling games". The Guardian. 20 November 2012.
13. https://www.scribd.com/document/123187959/Rings-counterclaims - Case 2:12-cv-09912-ABC-SH Document 21 Filed 01/18/13
14. Gardner, Eriq (28 October 2015). "Warner Bros. Can Sue Tolkien Estate For Breaching 'Hobbit' Contract". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
15. "J.R.R. Tolkien's estate and Warner Bros settle Hobbit and Lord of the Rings lawsuit". The Telegraph. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
16. "Amazon will run a multi-season Lord of the Rings prequel TV series". Ars Technica. 13 November 2017. from the original on 14 November 2017.
17. "Amazon announces 'Lord of the Rings' TV show". CNN. 13 November 2017. from the original on 14 November 2017.
18. Koblin, John (13 November 2017). "'Lord of the Rings' Series Coming to Amazon". The New York Times.
19. "Christopher Tolkien resigns as Tolkien estate director". Tolkien Society. 15 November 2017.
20. Seelye, Katharine Q.; Yuhas, Alan (16 January 2020). "Christopher Tolkien, Keeper of His Father's Legacy, Dies at 95". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.

External links

• Official website