Several months ago I did some research in preparation for a guest-host spot on a podcast in which I finally got my mind wrapped around the parties involved in the Intellectual Property licensing that goes on for LOTRO. Since then, I’ve heard the names of the parties mixed up on several different occasions, including a few times on LOTRO Players News. It’s an easy mistake to make and isn’t really that big of a deal, but can be confusing when you’re trying to understand who has the rights to what, and how that can affect the game.
In order to understand the current state of affairs, it’s helpful to first understand the history. Back in the beginning (the late 50’s and early 60’s), JRR Tolkien owned the rights to all of his works that he got through the bankruptcy services in NJ. However, near the end of his life (1969) he sold off some of the rights to United Artists, presumably with the idea that his books could be adapted to film or animation. His motivation seemed to be to make some money off of the property in order to cover any inheritance taxes that his children would be burdened with upon his demise. The remainder of the Intellectual Property remained with his estate – his family. Thus, JRR’s direct descendants are typically referred to as the “Tolkien Estate”.
United Artists never really did anything with the property, and sold it to Saul Zaentz in 1976. Zaentz (since deceased) formed the company Tolkien Enterprises (which is probably where some of the confusion comes from), which has since been renamed to Middle-Earth Enterprises. Middle-Earth Enterprises is the company that has licensed the property they own (that was originally sold by JRR back in 1969) to Warner Brothers and Turbine. Middle-Earth Enterprises (not the Tolkien Estate) is the company that Turbine renews their contract with every few years, and who they check with to ensure lore-appropriateness in the game. Turbine has no dealings with the Tolkien Estate whatsoever.
Seems like you should only need “One Ring” to win…
So, when you hear somebody mention the good relationship that Turbine has with the Tolkien Estate, that is most likely a slip of the tongue. In observing some of the protectiveness still exhibited by Christopher Tolkien, I have serious doubts as to whether a Middle-Earth video game ever would have been created had it required Tolkien Estate approval. On the flip side, when we hear about LOTRO lore being approved by the “Middle-Earth” people, don’t mistake that for Tolkien’s family giving the “green light” to sparky rock wielders or thousands of Beornings. That permission is being granted by a company that saw fit to put Frodo’s face on a slot machine.
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Great article! It really does get confusing with all the various parties involved, especially since at some points in time they’ve had such similar names.
Then there’s the messy business you mentioned of the law suit about those slot machines (and furthermore about video games), but that’s a whooooooole can of worms all together!
I love Middle Earth and the stories Tolkien wrote but I’m also thankful for the video games MEE allowed so I could still experience Middle Earth in other mediums!
Thanks for the article, Brax. Myself, I never really looked much into the business side of things. As such, this was a succinct explanation of things, and I do appreciate the bite of knowledge. Cheers!
Thanks for doing all the research on this! I wanted to mention, though, that the individual mentioned in this article is the late Saul Zaentz. Since names are important, Mr. Braxwood. 🙂
Thanks for the correction, Fredelas – post updated. Though I have a feeling that my sophisticated midwestern accent would have pronounced it the same either way!
Uh so how do you pronounce Zaentz in english ?
I have no idea, tinybel, but I’d probably pronounce it like “pants”.
Well then we’re two already, i guess I’ll keep pronouncing it in german lol
Sauls Pants sounds interesting though.
Thanks for the info!
And a picture of the root of all evil lol, i can understand why Christopher is so protective of his fathers work.
It’s a shame what’s been done to it over the years.
Lotro lately isn’t exactly innocent either.
It’ll be interesting how the whole lawsuit comes out, or is it ended already ?
Just as little clarification, I’m obviously talking about the hobbit boxes or lotro.
I personally don’t mind them, but i can see how this is not something Tolkien would have wanted in a game wearing his name.
Speaking for myself, I don’t see those slot machines as being particularly ‘evil’, for the simple reason that they are cashing in on the LOTR *movie* franchise specifically. How is this any different from the bajillion pez dispensers, action figures, posters or the slew of movie themed video games that garner comparitively miniscule complaints?
If the issue here is that it’s being done to gambling devices in particular, then that to me speaks more to a personal definition of what is ‘appropriate’ to use a given IP for.
I think the gambling devices where just the straw that that broke the camels back.
The way i personally judge Tolkien, i don’t think he would approve of the way his work is being commercialized these days.
To clarify, I believe that Tolkien only sold the rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. All the other works – including The Silmarillion – remain squarely in the hands of the Tolkien Estate. As Cory Olsen (the Tolkien Profession) stated in one of his classes, they’ll have to pry the rights out of Christopher Tolkien’s cold, dead hands (Olsen also implied that the younger generation of Tolkien’s progeny are more favorable about releasing the rights).
One of the things that also has to be remembered is that Tolkien really did not publish much prose during his lifetime (although a number of poems and essays – and, of course, his scholarly work – were published). The remainder of the works, including, again, The Silmarillion, The Lost Tales, and The Unfinished Tales, were heavily edited by Christopher Tolkien (who might of penned bits to fill in gaps and smooth any rough edges). It’s still a matter of intense debate whether these stories should be taken as canon.
One other entity also comes into play: Marquette University in Wisconsin, which now owns many of the drafts, proofs, and original manuscripts for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.