It’s been over a year since Rings of Power expanded the Lord of the Rings
universe. But only now did a legal dispute between the Tolkien family and fanfiction author Demetrious Polychron, who initially sought a lot of money from Amazon for allegedly used content, come to an end. However, he now has to pay himself.
In September 2017, Demetrious Polychron attempted to register his book The Fellowship of the King
as a trademark in the USA. He also contacted Simon Tolkien, the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, but did not receive a response, and the Tolkien family replied with a No
to an inquiry about collaboration.
When Rings of Power was released in September 2022, Polychron, who had now announced his intentions for a 6-part book series, sued Amazon for 250 million dollars (228,441,250 euros). The reason for this was that the series allegedly stole ideas from The Fellowship of the King
.
He loses and must pay himself
As expected, Polychron lost the lawsuit, and neither the Tolkien family nor Amazon have to pay him anything. But it gets even worse for him. As reported by the BBC, he not only lost the case but also has to pay a fine himself due to his proximity to Tolkien’s works.
Polychron has to pay the family’s attorney fees of 134,000 dollars (122,413 euros) because he infringed on the copyright with his fanfiction. At the same time, he is not allowed to publish his book and the planned sequels. In this regard, the Tolkien family stated the following:
In this case, it was a serious violation of the copyright of “The Lord of the Rings” that occurred on a commercial basis, and the estate hopes that the imposition of a permanent injunction and the payment of attorney’s fees will be sufficient to deter others with similar intentions.
With the successful lawsuit, the Tolkien family aims to send a message to all those who use their brand and characters and the consequences that such use could entail.
Like the story of Demetrious Polychron, one should always be cautious about legally confronting giant corporations, especially when writing fanfiction based on the corporation’s work.
But even multibillionaires lose money:
Elon Musk loses over 800 million euros in funding because he cannot keep a promise.
