Tolkien Estate Sues Warner for Lord of the Rings Gambling

Estate and publisher wants $80m from Warner for licensing Tolkien works to gambling.

Warner Bros sued

Tolkien’s estate and publisher sues Warner for $80m for licensing Lord of the Rings to online and mobile slot gambling.

The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of “The Lord of the Rings” and the original publisher of the novel series, HarperCollins started an $80 million lawsuit against Warner Brothers.

They sued Warner Bros. because according to them, the film entertainment company licensed Lord of the Rings characters and plots from the films to mobile casino games unlawfully.

The lawsuit was filed to LA District Court earlier this week. The Tolkien estate and HarperCollins say Warner wrongly licensed “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” rights to online and mobile slots, overstepping their contract for merchandising.

The estate and the publisher also claim that licensing to gambling not only exceeds the scope of merchandising rights, but outraged Tolkien’s devoted worldwide fan base.

The lawsuit informs that Warner’s actions to give the “Lord of the Rings” rights to online and mobile gambling caused irreparable harm to J.R.R. Tolkien’s legacy and reputation and hurt the valuable goodwill generated by the author’s work.

Two parties want $80 million in damages from Warner Bros. for the breach of licensing contract and the infringement on merchandising rights.

In the meantime, the new Tolkien movie, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is scheduled for premier next week in New Zealand.