Amazon and The Tolkien Estate win Lord of the Rings lawsuit over an author who claimed they stole Rings of Power TV series from his book
- Author Demetrious Polychron filed a massive $250 million lawsuit against Amazon over their Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Polychron claims that the streaming service stole the idea for the series from his 2017 fan fiction book The Fellowship of the King
- A California judge ruled not only for both Amazon and The Tolkien Estate, but ordered Polychron to pay their $134K legal fees as well
A little-known author’s massive $250 million lawsuit against Amazon and The Tolkien Estate has failed.
Author Demetrious Polychron filed a $250 million lawsuit against Amazon over their Prime Video streaming service series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Polychrone claims that the streaming service stole the idea for the series from his 2017 fan fiction book The Fellowship of the King.
A California judge ruled not only for both Amazon and The Tolkien Estate, but ordered Polychron to pay their $134K legal fees also.
District Court of California judge Stephen V. Wilson threw out both lawuits that Polycron had brought forth.
Author Demetrious Polychron filed a $250 million lawsuit against Amazon over their Prime Video streaming service series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Polychrone claims that the streaming service stole the idea for the series from his 2017 fan fiction book The Fellowship of the King
The author registered his fan fiction sequel book The Fellowship of the King in 2017, which he claimed was the ‘pitch perfect sequel to The Lord of the Rings.’
He filed the lawsuit in April against both Amazon and The Tolkien Estate, which controls the works of late Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien.
The lawsuit claimed both Amazon and The Tolkien Estate infringed on his copyright for his fan fiction book.
Wilson not only threw out both lawsuits and ordered Polychron to pay Amazon and The Tolkien Estate’s legal fees, but he also prevented him from selling The Fellowship of the King.
The judge filed a permanent injunction that prevented Polychron from ever distributing any further copies of The Fellowship of the King.
It also prevented him from selling any copies of his planned sequels or any other derivative works of author JRR Tolkien.
The author has also been ordered to destroy all physical and electronic copies of The Fellowship of the King and file a declaration – under penalty of perjury – that he has complied with all of the court’s requests.
The judge also turned down Polychron’s request to have Amazon and The Tolkien Estate pay for his legal fees.
‘This is an important success for the Tolkien Estate, which will not permit unauthorized authors and publishers to monetize JRR Tolkien’s much-loved works in this way,’ said Steven Maier, the Tolkien Estate’s UK solicitor.
The author registered his fan fiction sequel book The Fellowship of the King in 2017, which he claimed was the ‘pitch perfect sequel to The Lord of the Rings.’
Wilson not only threw out both lawsuits and ordered Polychron to pay Amazon and The Tolkien Estate’s legal fees, but he also prevented him from selling The Fellowship of the King
The author has also been ordered to destroy all physical and electronic copies of The Fellowship of the King and file a declaration – under penalty of perjury – that he has complied with all of the court’s requests
Tolkien’s work won’t enter public domain until January 1, 2044 – which is 95 years after his first work was published
Tolkien’s work won’t enter public domain until January 1, 2044 – which is 95 years after his first work was published.
The Rings of Power made headlines in 2017 when Amazon obtained the TV rights to Tolkien’s work for an astonishing $250 million.
The deal was said to be for over $1 billion which included production costs for the sprawling first season.
The show was renewed for a second season, which is believed to return in 2024, though no Season 2 premiere date was given.
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