None of the materials which have been posted (with respect to Peter Jackson's movies) are "approved", so far as I know. I accept Xoanon's explanation at face value. He was given a personal sneak peak and he misinterpreted the gesture.

: I give the webmaster credit who said screw this and posted it
: anyway. We know he won't be bullied by "The Powers that Be."

It's not a matter of being bullied. It's a matter of deciding who you want to risk angering. Some of the Webmasters have less to lose, so to speak, than others.

Every banner and graphic you see on a Tolkien movie site which uses images from the official Web site, the Internet trailer, magazine photo layouts, etc. is technically in violation of copyrights. Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have been extremely tolerant of and supportive of the fannish community.

They've occasionally drawn some lines that fans didn't know were there before. That's their prerogative. But all the indications I've had from New Line Cinema's people are that they want to work with us and are being very, very lenient with the fannish Web sites.

Peter Jackson has two very good personal reasons to object to many of the spy reports. First of all, we are spoiling his surprises (and that is mainly why I haven't tried to build up the big spy network I could have -- many people offered to help me get information before the other sites took off). Secondly, we are giving the online fans an impression of the movies which isn't always favorable.

I'm trying to make light of the departures from the books because I think the people who are still upset about them are just going to be that way. I don't want to rattle any more cages over the artistic license being practiced. Tolkien made his choice, which was to give up control over the films, and the fans should be happy (in my opinion) with that decision. But they aren't.

We all have to make the best of this somehow.
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