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JRR Tolkien's Estate Sues New Line Cinema
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The family of JRR Tolkien, who present his work and interests through the Tolkien Trust, is suing New Line Cinema, alleging that it has not received any royalty payments.The Tolkien Trust, which is run by Christopher and Priscilla, son and daughter of the author, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles. The Trust accused New Line Cinema of "insatiable greed" and seeks royalty payments of 7.5% on gross revenues of more than £3 billion for three films made since 2001.
Bonnie Eskenazi, lawyer for the Tolkien Trust, said: "I cannot imagine how on earth New Line will argue to a jury that these films could gross literally billions of dollars, and yet the creator's heirs, who are entitled to a share of gross receipts, don't get a penny."
The Tolkiens claim that New Line excluded certain revenues from its calculations and artificially inflated costs so that it did not have to pay the money owed to them.
New Line Cinema has declined to comment on the case. However this is the second time New Line have been involved in litigation with the Lord of the Ring’s films. Peter Jackson, the films Oscar winning Director, began legal proceedings in 2005 regarding lost profits running into millions of dollars.
The Trust has also sought the courts to declare that it is able to stop New Line having access to the author's works because of the "serious and material nature of the breach of the agreement."
For fans of the films, this litigation could cast doubts on whether the recently announced film 'The Hobbit' will be able to complete production, let alone be released.
