Lord of the Lawsuits
J.R.R. Tolkien’s two children are embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with New Line Cinema over unpaid royalties from the three Lord of the Rings movies.
According to the LA Times, “Tolkien licensed motion picture rights to United Artists back in 1969 for a low six-figure sum and 7.5% of the gross receipts.” however New Line has not actually paid any money to the Tolkien kids or the charitable trust fund.
The article explains how law suits are nothing new to New Line and that none of this will be solved for years because the courts are too backed up…. but the interesting bit is RIGHT at the end…
Of course, the Tolkien’s do have one giant club in their arsenal. Part of the remedy they’re seeking is to terminate New Line’s rights to Tolkien’s books, including the two “Hobbit” films, which are now in the works with “Pan’s Labyrinth” director Guillermo del Toro.
“I think they have every right to terminate, ” says Eskenazi. “If New Line engaged in gross misconduct, which I believe they did in this case, are you forced to continue in business with them?”
So we will have to wait and see how this plays out…
