Is The One Ring 2E Kickstarter going to break the records?

At over $140K in the first half hour and shooting quickly past the $200K mark before the first hour was up, the numbers on Free League's Kickstarter for the 2nd Edition of The One Ring are whizzing up faster than the eye can see!

THE ONE RING™ Roleplaying Game, Second Edition

A new edition of the roleplaying game set in the world of The Lord of the Rings™ by J.R.R. Tolkien, designed by Francesco Nepitello.

www.kickstarter.com

The record for a TTRPG Kickstarter is Matt Colville, at over $2M for his Strongholds & Followers project (and a followup $1.3M campaign). The next highest was John Wick's 7th Sea at about $1.2M.

There were over 6,000 people who were following the pre-launch page for this Kickstarter, which runs for three weeks.

 

[Paragon Lost]

Tolkien sold the film, stage and merchandising rights in 1969 to LotR to Saul Zaentz, a Hollywood film producer. The rights included everything published at the time, so LotR and Hobbit were in, but not everything that JRR's son Chriostopher published after his father's death in 1973.

So The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc. remained Christopher's for all his life, until he passed away about a year ago.

That's where the schism came from. It's regrettable for fans, but JRR wasn't a rich man and he was right to try and earn money for himself and his family through the sale he did.

Oh well...

Great summation. Saul Zaentz was a nasty piece of work. He screwed over many people over the decades.

 

[Mercador]

Yes, this is a licensed product, like the 1st edition of the same game was, by way of Sophisticated Games (which also produces a bunch of Middle Earth board games, card games, etc.) Their license allows them to make this TTRPG; other companies have licensed other types of product.

I remember there were some issues between LOTR and DnD way back in the '80 so I was wondering how they could create true lore canonic content. And since LOTR is quite old by now, I thought it was maybe in the public domain by now.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I remember there were some issues between LOTR and DnD way back in the '80 so I was wondering how they could create true lore canonic content. And since LOTR is quite old by now, I thought it was maybe in the public domain by now.

As long as there is a Tolkien alive to renew copyrights, it will never become public domain, as rights have to lapse first before any written work goes that route.

 

[Morrus]

I remember there were some issues between LOTR and DnD way back in the '80 so I was wondering how they could create true lore canonic content. And since LOTR is quite old by now, I thought it was maybe in the public domain by now.

Different companies. That was TSR, and the issues were in the 70s when Gygax & co. used hobbits, ents, balrogs, etc in D&D.

The One Ring is licensed by Sophisticated Games who worked with Cubicle 7 and then Free League. Nothing to do with the (now extinct) TSR.

As for becoming public domain, Tolkien died in the 1970s, I think. So you have quite a long wait yet!

 

[Morrus]

As long as there is a Tolkien alive to renew copyrights, it will never become public domain, as rights have to lapse first before any written work goes that route.

That’s not correct.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

That’s not correct.

Then UK copyright laws must work differently than US laws.

 

[Morrus]

Then UK copyright laws must work differently than US laws.

Not substantially. Both are life + 70 years. You can read about copyright duration in various countries here:

List of countries' copyright lengths - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Bardic Dave]

Then UK copyright laws must work differently than US laws.

Your knowledge of US copyright law is not as accurate as you think it is. Here’s what the US copyright office has to say on the matter:

How Long Does Copyright Protection Last? (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office

Brief answers to questions about duration of copyright, and renewal of copyright.

www.copyright.gov

 

[Mercador]

Thanks guys for the explanation... Man I remember seeing the animated movie when I was a young kid. I'm not old enough but was there a fantasy awakening in the '70 ? Gygax, LOTR, Excalibur (in 82?) and then nothing until LOTR in 2003 (?). Oh yeah, Robin Hood but that's different.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Your knowledge of US copyright law is not as accurate as you think it is. Here’s what the US copyright office has to say on the matter:

How Long Does Copyright Protection Last? (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office

Brief answers to questions about duration of copyright, and renewal of copyright.

www.copyright.gov

The US law also has a clear distinction/division between works published before 1978 and those in 1978 and later.