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Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
- Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
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Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
Michael > December 18th, 2023, 11:43 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TOLKIEN ESTATE SUCCESSFUL IN COPYRIGHT CLAIMS OVER
INFRINGING LORD OF THE RINGS ‘SEQUEL’
The Estate of JRR Tolkien has been successful in two lawsuits concerning a book named The Fellowship of the King by US-based author Demetrious Polychron.
Polychron published and commercially promoted the book, which he claimed to be “the pitch-perfect sequel to The Lord of the Rings.”
Polychron then commenced a lawsuit against the Tolkien Estate and Amazon in April of this year, claiming that Amazon’s TV series The Rings of Power infringed the copyright in his book. The US District Court summarily dismissed that case, finding that Polychron’s own book was infringing and could not be used as the basis for a claim.
The Tolkien Estate filed a separate lawsuit against Polychron for an injunction to prevent The Fellowship of the King from being further distributed.
In Judgments issued by Judge Steven V. Wilson on December 14, the Court awarded the Tolkien Estate summary judgment on its claim, granting a permanent injunction which prevents Polychron from ever distributing any further copies of The Fellowship of the King, his planned sequels to that book, or any other derivative work based on the books of JRR Tolkien. He is also required to destroy all physical and electronic copies of his book and to file a declaration, under penalty of perjury, that he has complied.
The Court also awarded attorney’s fees totalling $134,000 to the Tolkien Estate and Amazon in connection with Polychron’s lawsuit, which the Court found to have been frivolously and unreasonably filed.
Lance Koonce and Gili Karev of Klaris Law, New York, represented the Tolkien Estate.
The Estate’s UK solicitor, Steven Maier of Maier Blackburn, commented: “This is an important success for the Tolkien Estate, which will not permit unauthorized authors and publishers to monetize JRR Tolkien’s much-loved works in this way. This case involved a serious infringement of The Lord of the Rings copyright, undertaken on a commercial basis, and the Estate hopes that the award of a permanent injunction and attorneys’ fees will be sufficient to dissuade others who may have similar intentions.” -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
Michael > December 18th, 2023, 12:24 PM
I knew nothing of this lawsuit but it was mentioned in news media back in June. I was feelin' poorly then, so that's why I probably don't remember anything about it.
Quote:Tolkien Estate Sues Over Unauthorized ‘Lord of the Rings’ Sequel
The estate of the famed fantasy novelist J.R.R. Tolkien accused author Demetrious Polychron of writing and selling an unauthorized sequel of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, according to a copyright lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court.
The lawsuit comes after Polychron filed his own copyright suit against the Tolkien Trust and Amazon Inc. in April, alleging that they infringed the copyrights to his sequel after the tech company released the TV series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
The estate first learned that Polychron was selling the sequel called “The Fellowship of the King” online in March and later sent a cease-and-desist letter, according to the complaint filed Thursday. Polychron had written letters to J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandson Simon to pitch a written sequel to the trilogy beginning in 2017, although the estate reiterated its policy of not licensing writers to create sequels, the complaint said.
Read the full article on Bloomberg Law (subscription may be required):
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/tol...ngs-sequel -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
Michael > December 18th, 2023, 12:26 PM
Actually, IGN covered the story in April.
Quote:Lord of the Rings Fan Fiction Writer Suing Tolkien Estate and Amazon For Copyright Infringement
A Lord of the Rings fan fiction writer is suing the Tolkien Estate and Rings of Power creator Amazon for copyright infringement of his novel The Fellowship of the King.
As reported by PC Gamer, Demetrious Polychron claims his work, which was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2017 and published in September 2022, is "inspired by Lord of the Rings and J.R.R. Tolkien" but is a "wholly original book and concept".
The lawsuit claims that The Rings of Power show infringes on his copyright and Polychron is seeking $250 million as a result.
Polychron also claims to have attempted several times to work with the Tolkien Estate professionaly. After filing the trademark, he sent a letter to J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson and Tolkien Estate director Simon Tolkien, describing the book and asking the company to review his manuscript.
Read the full article on IGN:
https://www.ign.com/articles/lord-of-the...fringement -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
badlands > December 29th, 2023, 06:47 PM
Shouldn’t ask permission first. -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
Boomstick > December 29th, 2023, 07:04 PM
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RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
Michael > January 1st, 2024, 05:32 PM
I'm sure he wasn't the first person to approach the Tolkien Estate with fan fiction. I'm just surprised anyone would have taken it this far. It used to be that the fan fiction community understood very well you don't own the rights to anything you create.
I guess times have changed. -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
august > January 2nd, 2024, 01:01 AM
Well, he may not be part of any community, since he apparently was/is seeking to create a viable/marketable/profitable spinoff. -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
rkomar > January 2nd, 2024, 01:46 PM
It is a weird situation. Maybe I'm wrong, but it looks like he created some probably illegal fiction, and then feels that he had that fiction copied into a work that was licensed by the estate. Does the fact that his fiction was not licensed make it legal to be copied by someone else? I guess he thinks the answer is no. Perhaps he thinks that the money he can get suing the TV series can more than offset any penalties he has to pay for his own transgression? He may not be as crazy as he first looks. -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
august > January 2nd, 2024, 09:14 PM
Yeah, see that's why generations of fans have been crushed when producers can't read self-submitted screenplays, because if the fan just happened to hit on some obvious plot development, they could then claim that someone else who writes something similar "stole" their idea. There's no legal leg to stand on, but someone might pay him some money to make him go away. -
RE: Tolkien Estate win 2023 Infringement Lawsuit
Mordomin > January 2nd, 2024, 10:11 PM
I am copying this thread to my Mother, who will hopefully understand why I have not tried to get my Mordomin stories published. I DID say "hopefully". LOL!
