"Jackpot!" says Warner Bros. "Nay!" says Tolkien's estate.
An online Lord of the Rings slot machine game has riled up the lawyerly Balrogs of the Tolkien estate, according to the Hollywood Reporter. On Monday, the estate filed suit against Warner Bros. over the slots game, claiming that the company only has rights to create tangible merchandise and that digital products are beyond the scope of their contract.
According to Tolkien’s estate, its agreement with Warner Bros. covers “articles of tangible personal property”: costume hobbit feet and ears, authentic replicas of The One Ring or Evenstar necklace, life-sized cardboard cutouts of the movie series’ stars, and the like. But the estate claims that Warner Bros. has pursued merchandising in digital realms with “increasing boldness” where it is not technically authorized to do so.
The online slot machines are particular offenders, but the suit also names a number of other non-tangibles: ringtones, online games and downloadable apps, as well as hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and housing developments, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Merchandise seems all right by the estate, but anything that might claim a LoTR-style experience goes too far.
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