XPost: alt.books.inklings, rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: Troels@ThisIsFake.invalid   
      
   In message    
   Steve Hayes  spoke these staves:   
   >   
   > Someone posted this in the alt.usage.english newsgroup recently. I   
   > thought it might be of interest here too:   
   >   
   > "The word 'hobbit' has certainly been seeing a lot of legal action   
   > lately, thanks to the Saul Zaentz Company and Middle-earth   
   > Enterprises, which own trademarks on various Tolkien terms. First   
   > there was The Hobbit pub, which was threatened with legal action   
   > if they didn't change their name, but settled on a licensing deal   
   > thanks to support from 'The Hobbit' actors James Frey and Sir Ian   
   > McKellen.   
      
   The latest news on this is that the SZC and MeE lawyers are doing   
   their best to draw out the time -- the pub had not received anything   
   from the SZC/MeE last I heard, and they didn't dare let their own   
   lawyers go, so the price for this seemingly generous offer of a   
   license at a symbolic price may still be that _The Hobbit_ pub will   
   have to close down.   
      
   > Then came 'Age of the Hobbits,' a rather obvious cash-in low-budget   
   > film from The Asylum studio, which claimed their hobbits had   
   > nothing to do with Tolkien's. They're also facing legal action   
   > demanding the title be changed.   
      
   This is, to my thought, actually positive news. The studio seems   
   determined to fight it out, and so, finally, we may have a trial that   
   can determine the extent of the SZC/MeE rights, which I suppose are   
   FAR less than they pretend, but if unopposed, they will probably be   
   able to extend their rights simply because people do not dare fight   
   their legal muscle.   
      
   > Yet today, the legal brawl has extended into the scholarly realm,   
   > as a professor who had planned to use the word 'hobbit' in his   
   > lecture title was forbidden permission by the SZC."   
      
   I hope, and I pray, that Dr. Alloway will not bow to their ludicrous   
   demands.  Here is a trial case that I would gladly support monitarily   
   (the pub had been using imagery and other things that were, in my   
   inexpert understanding, at least closer to infringing on the rights   
   of the SZC/MeE and Warner).   
      
   Also, I have seen other media claiming that the plaintiff is the   
   Tolkien Estate, once more throwing an undeserved negative light on   
   the actions of the Estate (which is not to say that the Tolkien   
   Estate has never erred on the side of being repressive, but a large   
   majority of such cases are actually a result of either the SZV/MeE or   
   of companies reacting with excessive caution).   
      
   --   
   Troels Forchhammer   
   Valid e-mail is    
   Please put [AFT], [RABT] or 'Tolkien' in subject.   
      
       Truth in science can be defined as the working hypothesis   
       best suited to open the way to the next better one.   
    - Konrad Lorenz   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)