A fan fiction writer who had published a book titled “The King’s Community”presented as the prequel to the saga of “The Lord of the rings”lost a copyright lawsuit that he had initiated against Tolkien’s heirs and the Amazon platform for releasing a series that freely recreated the universe contained in the mythical story.
The legal battle began after Demetrious Polychron will publish ‘The King’s Fellowship’ in 2022, the first link in what it announced as a seven-part series inspired by the Tolkien franchise.
The writer was so committed to his role as continuator of the series – he said that his contribution would be the “perfect continuation” of the story – that when in September of that year amazon premiere “The Rings of Power”the television series based on the universe created by the author of “The Lord of the Rings” and carried out with the approval of his heirs, decided to begin a lawsuit against the streaming platform and the heirs, considering that they had infringed the copyright of your book.
The court’s decision on Polychron’s lawsuit against Tolkien’s heirs
The case was dismissed after the judge ruled that Polychron’s own text reproduced elements of the Amazon prequel and gave rise to a cross attack by the heirs, who gathered at the Tolkien Estate firm filed a separate lawsuit against the author of “The King’s Community”, requesting a court order to prevent the book from further distribution.
Lawyers for the Middle-earth creator sent a cease-and-desist letter to Polychron in March. In a long response, the writer denied having infringed copyright and He described his book as a “loving tribute” to “The Lord of the Rings”court records indicate.
Finally now the judge Steven V. Wilson called the original lawsuit “frivolous and unreasonably brought” and prevented Polychron from selling his book and publishing the other six planned volumes.
In addition, the court awarded legal fees totaling $134,000 (£106,000) to the Tolkien Estate and Amazon, which the writer will have to pay.
“This is a significant success for the Tolkien Estate, which will not allow unauthorized authors and publishers to monetize JRR Tolkien’s much-loved works,” rights dispute lawyer Steven Maier told The Guardian.
“This case involved a serious infringement of the copyright of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, carried out for commercial purposes.” He also noted that he hopes that the granting of a permanent injunction and attorneys’ fees will be sufficient to deter others who may have similar intentions,” he said.
Polychron “the continuator” of Tolkien’s universe
Polychron had appeared before Simon Tolkien as a Tolkien fan since childhood, according to court documents. He said that he was inspired to write a sequel to “The Lord of the rings” after reading Tolkien’s notes on story ideas not developed in the series, court records indicate.
“A part of my creative subconscious took that as an order from your grandfather,” Polychron wrote in a letter sharing a finished manuscript of its sequel, which it said was 180,000 words long.
In 2019, he contacted Tolkien’s estate to discuss the possibility of collaborating to publish the book and was rejected, according to court documents. In December of that year, Polychron allegedly wrote to Simon Tolkien asking him to reconsider, but the heir returned Polychron’s manuscript unread, according to the lawsuit.
Thus, Polychron proceeded to publish “The King’s Community” itself in 2022, court documents state. A synopsis of an online listing for the book describes characters from the saga fighting in a “War of the Rings to end all wars in the world.” The first page of the book is dedicated to JRR Tolkien.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
