this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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[–] TheMongoose@kbin.social 188 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Should copyright for works that old be expired? Yes!

In the actual world we live in, was this guy ever going to avoid being sued so hard that his grandchildren will be embarrassed for him? No!

You've got to admire the lemming-like devotion to the legal cliff he threw himself off though. Writing a sequel to not only a copyright work, but one that is still in the cultural zeitgeist thanks to a 20-year old wildly successful series of films? Ballsy. Subsequently suing one of the largest companies in the world and the estate that produced the original works as infringing his copyright?

Chutzpa, I believe the term is.

[–] BustlingChungus@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

20 year old films? I didn’t realise someone had made the movies before Peter Jackson…

checks date of release

…fuck

[–] Selmafudd@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They did make an animation before Peter Jackson's release and I'm too afraid to look at that date

[–] Mongostein@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

Let’s not forget Led Zepplin referencing it in a song that’s still played every day on the radio.

[–] SomeoneElse@lemmy.ca 32 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Yeah, this guy didn’t have a leg to stand on. There’s an independently owned cafe opposite sarhole mill (inspiration for “the shire”) on the street JRR Tolkien grew up on called “the hungry hobbit”. It’s been called that since 2005 - before the release of the hobbit film. A production company sued this tiny sandwich shop, sitting on a roundabout 3 miles south of Birmingham for the unauthorised use of the word “hobbit”. That was completely egregious imo. It’s now called “the hungry hobb” - they just took down the last two letters on the sign. I really should grab a sandwich from them one day.

[–] BaardFigur@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Hobbit was a word way before J.R.R. wrote his books, stupid that they were able to sue them

[–] SomeoneElse@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

When it happened I thought the typeface was the issue rather than the word hobbit. But no.Here’s before and this is after. I can’t get my head around the fact that the production company sued this tiny sandwich shop. It’s so ridiculous!

Funny how the secondary title on the left still says hungry hobbit haha

[–] Nawor3565@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, you can sue anyone for any bogus reason you want. And if you have more money than whoever you're suing, it doesn't matter how frivolous it is, because you can just bankrupt them by forcing them to pay lawyer fees.

[–] SomeoneElse@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

That’s precisely what happened here. The place had been called the hungry hobbit for years under multiple owners. The current owner bought it, updated some official paperwork and within the first 6 months of her ownership got hit with the “unauthorised usage” bs. She couldn’t afford to fight it. Thankfully the “hungry hobb” is still doing enough business to stay open 12 years later.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Really where was it used?
Found it but no it was not. One line in one book from 1895 “The whole earth was overrun with ghosts, boggles ... hobbits, hobgoblins."
So still think it’s very unlikely it was a word that anyone knew before the Hobbit.

[–] evranch@lemmy.ca 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ballsy? He's an outright copyright troll and anyone celebrating him here in the comments should read the article...

He wrote a knockoff book and then tried to claim Tolkien's characters as his own and sue his estate? Does nobody remember the days of BS software patent trolls trying to claim they invented "the app" or "method for clicking on things with the mouse cursor?" Do we remember how mad we were at those shysters?

This guy deserves whatever he gets.

[–] patatahooligan@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I read through the article but it doesn't seem to specify the nature of the book. How do we know it's a "knock off"? It might very well be fanfiction. Copyright law aside, fanfiction can be original and is a valid artistic expression.

This is quite a nuanced issue. The author is claiming that the Rings of Power copied his ideas. Even if the author didn't have the legal right to publish this book, he might have put original ideas into his work, and the Tolkien Estate should not automatically own these. The copyright owner "should" (within the current legal framework) be able to make you take down your derivative work, but they don't own it. The article doesn't specify why the original lawsuit was dismissed.

[–] AlfredEinstein@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly, I'm surprised he wasn't embarrassed to claim that any part of that tedious shitheap of storytelling that Amazon produced had been lifted from his work.

The few episodes of that ridiculous black-hole of entertainment are the only things I have ever watched where I truly wanted those hours of my life back.

[–] loobkoob@kbin.social 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You felt much more strongly about it than me then. I just found myself not caring about it in the slightest; the only thing I really felt was boredom. Which is arguably the worst possible outcome for any work of art.

[–] FaceDeer@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] rikudou@lemmings.world 1 points 1 year ago

I mean, Game of Thrones season 8 made me feel that I'm never watching any content related to it ever again. Not sure they really wanted that kind of hate.

[–] sqgl@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Speaking of Chutzpah...

"The Fellowship of the King" title is a combination of the titles of the first book in the LOTR trilogy "The Fellowship of the Ring" and the third book "The Return of the King".

"The Two Trees" title is similar to the second book in the LOTR trilogy "The Two Towers"