Tolkien fanfic writer sues Tolkien estate over copyright

[Dioltach]

Am I the only one wondering how B&N ever decided to sell the book? I mean, surely someone must have asked about copyright?

 

[billd91]

Am I the only one wondering how B&N ever decided to sell the book? I mean, surely someone must have asked about copyright?

I'm pretty sure B&N doesn't significantly vet every work they sell by reviewing the suitability of its copyright claims against all possible conflicts. They might check that it was submitted for copyright registration, but that isn't going to catch a frankly delusional one submitted by the author.

 

[Dioltach]

I'm pretty sure B&N doesn't significantly vet every work they sell by reviewing the suitability of its copyright claims against all possible conflicts. They might check that it was submitted for copyright registration, but that isn't going to catch a frankly delusional one submitted by the author.

Not every work, of course, but a high-profile work such as LotR? Does no-one think, "Hmm, strange, I haven't seen marketing for an officially licensed sequel."

 

[Blue Orange]

I'm a little disheartened everyone's siding with the Tolkien estate, ironically.

I mean, the literary quality of this looks pretty bad, and this is the next dumbest thing to suing Disney over your Mickey Mouse fanfiction. Fine. Still, stuff like LOTR and Star Wars are the Iliad, Ramayana, and Romance of Three Kingdoms of our day, and they're held up by a bunch of heirs and a lawyers. I'm fine with Tolkien never needing to work again off this stuff, but his great-grandkids? J.R.R's been dead 50 years.

I think the duration of copyright is way out of control.

 

[Ryujin]

I'm a little disheartened everyone's siding with the Tolkien estate, ironically.

I mean, the literary quality of this looks pretty bad, and this is the next dumbest thing to suing Disney over your Mickey Mouse fanfiction. Fine. Still, stuff like LOTR and Star Wars are the Iliad, Ramayana, and Romance of Three Kingdoms of our day, and they're held up by a bunch of heirs and a lawyers. I'm fine with Tolkien never needing to work again off this stuff, but his great-grandkids? J.R.R's been dead 50 years.

I think the duration of copyright is way out of control.

Both lamenting and recognizing what is are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Wolfram stout]

That, more than anything, is the part that gets me. The rest of the situation is unremarkable. Wanting to take a crack at writing in your favorite narrative universe is so common we have terms dedicated to the concept. The wish to be able to do so and eventually make a profit from the endeavor has spawned countless actual successes. Naturally, Sturgeon's Law applies here as anywhere else. It's that this fellow thought that some not-exactly-novel plot elements showing in both his books and the show (both Tolkien fanfiction, one lawfully sanctioned by the rights-holders) was proof that his Intellectual Property rights were being violated is the height of silliness.

Question to others-- anyone think it is feasible that this started as someone just ballsedly trying to incent a bigger dog pay to make them go away (because it'd be the cheaper and easier option) rather than a real attempt at being successful in their claim? We certainly speculated on that with LaNasa/NuTSR.

There is a great podcast called The Prancing Pony Podcast that covered the lawsuit many months ago. If I remember correctly the guy showed up at one of the houses (JRRT's grandson in the publishing box maybe) on Christmas Eve to hand deliver the manuscript to him.

Based on the podcast reading of various documents this guy honestly thinks he has a great literary work.

 

[Willie the Duck]

I'm a little disheartened everyone's siding with the Tolkien estate, ironically.

I mean, the literary quality of this looks pretty bad, and this is the next dumbest thing to suing Disney over your Mickey Mouse fanfiction. Fine. Still, stuff like LOTR and Star Wars are the Iliad, Ramayana, and Romance of Three Kingdoms of our day, and they're held up by a bunch of heirs and a lawyers. I'm fine with Tolkien never needing to work again off this stuff, but his great-grandkids? J.R.R's been dead 50 years.

I think the duration of copyright is way out of control.

If I thought that this was a well-orchestrated attempt (either through compelling legal argument or to drum up popular support for a change in the law) at changing the copyright law duration, I would have a different opinion on the goings-on.

 

[Dioltach]

I'm a little disheartened everyone's siding with the Tolkien estate, ironically.

I mean, the literary quality of this looks pretty bad, and this is the next dumbest thing to suing Disney over your Mickey Mouse fanfiction. Fine. Still, stuff like LOTR and Star Wars are the Iliad, Ramayana, and Romance of Three Kingdoms of our day, and they're held up by a bunch of heirs and a lawyers. I'm fine with Tolkien never needing to work again off this stuff, but his great-grandkids? J.R.R's been dead 50 years.

I think the duration of copyright is way out of control.

Christopher Tolkien was still actively publishing books based on his father's works and notes just five years ago. I'd say the property is very much alive.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Based on the podcast reading of various documents this guy honestly thinks he has a great literary work.

Isn't that what every author thinks? They all have the next big thing. You just haven't read it yet.

 

[Ryujin]

Isn't that what every author thinks? They all have the next big thing. You just haven't read it yet.

Quite the opposite, in my experience. The good ones tend to suffer from Imposter Syndrome.