LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has barred the estate of “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien from seeking punitive damages against the studio that brought the trilogy to the big screen. Tolkien’s heirs claim New Line Cinema has failed to pay any royalties from the estimated $6 billion they say the movie has grossed worldwide. The lawsuit is seeking more than $150 million in compensatory damages based on breach of contract, fraud and other claims. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones also ruled this week that the estate and Tolkien heirs have established a legal basis for the fraud claim against New Line. As part of that allegation, the lawsuit claims New Line sent millions of dollars to Time Warner Inc.’s AOL, improperly claiming they were for advertising expenses. The lawsuit also claims the studio built production offices and facilities in New Zealand and listed them as expenses for the “Lord of the Rings” films, although the heirs claim they are now being used for other New Line projects. Continue reading “Court: No punitive damages in ‘LOTR’ suit”
Category: Tolkien Estate
It is that time again – time for Ringer Diedye’s Flashback feature on TheOneRing.net! This week’s flashback details the events that took place in the Tolkien universe between August 23rd and August 30th. This is a weekly feature that Diedye posts in the forum, so if there is ever a time we don’t post it on the homepage of TORn, make sure to check the Main board in our forums. Click on the link below to transported in time!
Continue reading “Tolkien Flashback August 23rd-30th”
TORn has been following the developments of the infamous Tolkien lawsuit for a long time. For those of you who’d like to get caught up in one fell swoop, Frodo Franchise author Kristin Thompson has posted an in-depth blog entry on exactly what is going on:
[Read On]
Businesswire.com reports: Greenberg Glusker announces that entertainment attorneys Bert Fields and Bonnie E. Eskenazi were included on The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Lawyers list– its annual report of the 100 most influential attorneys in the entertainment industry. One of just a handful of women named to the Power Lawyers list, Ms. Eskenazi regularly plays a leading role in resolving high-profile and landmark entertainment disputes. Currently, Ms. Eskenazi represents the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, in a $150 million profit participation action against New Line Cinema.
Voronwe the Faithful – attorney, forum member and resident advisor on the Tolkien vs. New Line lawsuit reports:
Not up to date on the demurrers and complaints? You can find Voronwe’s previous update on the latest Tolkien Family move here and/or check out the great article Clearing up Misconceptions Regarding the Tolkien vs. New Line Lawsuit
he wrote for us in June.
Thanks again to Voronwe_the_Faithful for posting another update on the Tolkien vs. New Line Lawsuit on our message boards: The plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint last Monday (which I believe was the last day for them to do so). They have dropped the fiduciary duty cause of action (as expected), but they have asserted new allegations to support the fraud cause of action. They added more specific claims as to how they contend that New Line misrepresented the amount of expenses that it had in order to avoid paying the royalties due. And they somewhat clarified their contention as to how they relied on these misrepresentations to their detriment. Undoubtedly New Line will again file a demurrer to the fraud cause of action. I would say it is about a 50/50 chance that the judge will sustain it this time. Meanwhile, the likelihood of a settlement continues to slip away.