Lord of The Rings Spin-Off Hit With $250 Million Lawsuit

The first Lord of the Rings book was originally published in 1954. Despite the series of books being hugely popular in their own right, in 2001, the movie adaptation took the success of the franchise to a whole different level.

The film raked in nearly one billion dollars at the box office alone. This is before we even talk about the money made from merchandise and various spin-off movies, such as the well-acclaimed The Hobbit. This is all relevant because a recent report suggests an author is pursuing an ambitious lawsuit.

Who is Suing Bezos and the Tolkien Estate?

Little-known author Demetrious Polychron has filed a lawsuit against Jeff Bezos, multiple Amazon Studios executives, and JRR Tolkien’s estate, claiming copyright infringement whilst seeking $250 million in damages.

Polychron alleges that he wrote and published an original book called The Fellowship of the King and a seven-book series titled The War of the Rings, for which he obtained a copyright in 2017. He acknowledges that the work of JRR Tolkien heavily influenced him.

In November 2017, the writer claimed he sent a letter to Tolkien’s grandson explaining his love of the Lord of the Ring books, and told him about his books. Polychron claimed he asked if Tolkien’s relative would review his book.
However, he said he received no response.

— Fellowship of Fans (@FellowshipFans) April 18, 2023

As you can see from the tweet above, he claims to have sent a letter to Tolkien’s Grandson in which he addressed his love for Lord of the Rings and asked if it would be possible for him to review the book. According to him, he received no response to this letter.

The chances of this lawsuit being successful are close to zero. Although we have limited information available, many people on the internet are already pointing to the fact that the book is clearly inspired by the Lord of the Rings and perhaps other works from Tolkien. As mentioned, Polychron openly acknowledges this. Therefore, unless it’s abundantly clear that his books have been used for the spin-off’s benefit, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Details of the suit are here:https://t.co/MmgRDxzGPc

— Fellowship of Fans (@FellowshipFans) April 18, 2023

It might be unfair to speculate, but it is highly likely he decided to launch this lawsuit entirely for publicity. After all, Jeff Bezos can afford a relatively decent lawyer to back his team up. Also, considering he is such a big fan of the franchise, it might be reasonable to assume that this is an opportunity for him to be associated with the legendary author.

The Lord of The Rings Spin-Off

In 2022, Amazon Prime released a new series called “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” JD Payne and Patrick McKay developed the show in collaboration with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, Harper Collins, and New Line Cinema, the studio behind Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies.

The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 2, last year and had a massive budget of one billion US dollars, making it the most expensive TV series ever created. Given that Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is reportedly a fan of Tolkien’s work, it is not surprising he was happy to back this project.