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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
While video games were not even invented at the time that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit,” Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. is fighting for the right to continue licensing the epic fantasy novels to video game and slot machine makers.
“The Hobbit” was written in 1937, while “LOTR” was published in 1949.
In a countersuit filed on March 11 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Warner Bros. claims that it would be severely damaged financially if it lost the ability to exploit the “LOTR” and “Hobbit” themes and characters by selling licenses for their use to video and gambling game manufacturers.
In fact, Warner Bros. claims it had to abandon plans for a “Hobbit”-themed casino slot machine that would have generated millions of dollars in profits after a lawsuit was filed last November by the Tolkien estate and book publisher HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C. attempting to halt such lucrative activities. The suit claims Warner Bros.’ sale of such licenses goes beyond the terms of its merchandizing contract with the Tolkien estate.
But Warner Bros. claims it had been selling such licenses with full knowledge of Tolkien’s heirs since 1998. Although the original 1969 contract that granted rights to the studio did not envision eventual video and gambling games rights, the agreements were amended in 1998 to include such uses.
A 2010 “regranting” agreement reinforced those rights, Warner Bros. claims in its suit.