# Tolkien Estate clamping down on fan activity



## Ealdwyn (Mar 6, 2022)

I didn't know where to put this thread, so please move it if there's somewhere more appropriate.






Frequently Asked Questions and Links - The Tolkien Estate







www.tolkienestate.com





I haven't read the whole thing, but in short it's no fanfiction, no fan art, no Tolkien music, no Tolkien quotes without permission, no writing in Tolkien languages (if you intend to post it somewhere), no Tolkien-related events, no public readings without permission, no Tolkien photographs. I'm no lawyer, but basically it threatens anyone who wishes to engage with Tolkien's works.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Mar 6, 2022)

Welcome to The (_That guy_) Forum.


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## Halasían (Mar 6, 2022)

Yet they are involved with the Rings of Power and not with War of the Rohirrim, Shadow of Mordor and LOTRO games, Peter Jackson's fanfic, etc. etc. I says a lot. 
🤣


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## Halasían (Mar 6, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Welcome to The (_Thatguy_) Forum.


I know that The One Ring (com) was once called 'TolkienOnline' back in the day and had an injunction filed against them, prompting them to use 'The One Ring' since they had the .com domain name. It did cause confusion with The One Ring (net). They became known by their acronyms of TORc and TORn. Not sure how this place didn't come under the scope back then as they were fairly aggressive at the time.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Mar 6, 2022)

Here's hoping we stay under the radar!


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## Erestor Arcamen (Mar 7, 2022)

That's something I've worried about since we're still one of the more active forums, though Amazon doesn't own enough of Tolkien's stuff to take us over yet, I hope.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Mar 7, 2022)

From now on, I'm calling you Erestor Bezos! 😄


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## Olorgando (Mar 7, 2022)

Erestor Arcamen said:


> That's something I've worried about since we're still one of the more active forums, though Amazon doesn't own enough of Tolkien's stuff to take us over yet, I hope.





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> From now on, I'm calling you Erestor Bezos! 😄


Any of the Bezos bums show up here, those TTF Rules so prominent in EA's siggy are out the window, down the toilet, over the balcony railing as far as I'm concerned. aka

🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Mar 7, 2022)

Calm down, Feanor. 😆


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## Olorgando (Mar 7, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Calm down, Feanor. 😆


Fiddlesticks! I'm staying quite in character with my avatar. Have you already forgotten your post in another thread that I gave this answer to?









What's your TTF Story?


That had to be explained to me by one of our other Russian members. ☺




www.thetolkienforum.com





😈😝


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## Uminya (Mar 7, 2022)

I guess the family is running out of steam riding their great grandfather's corpse like a cash-printing toboggan, so they'd decided that litigiousness will save their fortunes.


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## Halasían (Mar 7, 2022)

Ealdwyn said:


> I didn't know where to put this thread, so please move it if there's somewhere more appropriate.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I read on another board that has some legal minds participating that these pertain to _profiting_ off of any of that. It is doubtful they will 'go after' every person who posts Tolkien's World' based stories on fanfiction . net. If the work is published as a story to be sold, then they would.

It is also good to note that Saul Zaentz's company 'Middle Earth Online' has also filed injunctions for rights violations as well.


Uminya said:


> I guess the family is running out of steam riding their great grandfather's corpse like a cash-printing toboggan, so they'd decided that litigiousness will save their fortunes.


Tolkien Estate = Bad moneygrubbers. Self-proclaimed 'true fans' = "protecting Tolkien's work from blatant disrespect" 🤣


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## Uminya (Mar 8, 2022)

Halasían said:


> Tolkien Estate = Bad moneygrubbers. Self-proclaimed 'true fans' = "protecting Tolkien's work from blatant disrespect" 🤣



I'm not sure I follow, I certainly don't claim to be a 'true fan', and I don't think Tolkien's work needs to be "protected" from anything.


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## Ithilethiel (Apr 14, 2022)

Considering how the Professor personally corresponded with so many of his fans I find this one especially egregious.


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## vor0nwe (Apr 14, 2022)

Ithilethiel said:


> Considering how the Professor personally corresponded with so many of his fans I find this one especially egregious.


I dunno; I find that one to be understandable. There’s a huge difference between corresponding with the author and creator, or with one of his descendants (or their legal representatives). There’s likely quite a few people who know more about Tolkien’s works on forums like this one, than most people currently associated with the Estate...

Now in the case of Christopher, it would be different: the man had witnessed the creative process from fairly close up, and spent many years studying it (and the results) afterwards. But he published most of his findings anyway; which on the whole is likely a more efficient way of communicating with the fans. And sadly, he’s no longer with us.

Do we know if the Estate is actually cracking down on fan fiction writers more than before? Or is it just that they’ve updated the FAQ page, and they’ve now written things out in plain language that were always there, but in more obscure terms?



Halasían said:


> I read on another board that has some legal minds participating that these pertain to _profiting_ off of any of that.


That’s my take as well, but it would have been nice to make that distinction on the FAQ page.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (May 5, 2022)

One Does Not Simply Create Fan Projects Without Interference From the Tolkien Estate


Nebulous but aggressive copyright policies are squashing out all LOTR fan projects, and artists aren't pleased.




www.fanbyte.com


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