Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien

The estate (The Tolkien Trust, a British charity) of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings series of books, sued New Line Cinema claiming that they failed to pay royalties on the approximately $6 billion the movies the company produced has grossed as well as for breach of contract and fraud.  The estate also sought punitive damages.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones has recently made the following rulings in this case:

• The estate has sufficient evidence to proceed with a fraud claim against New Line Cinema.
• The estate may not seek punitive damages against New Line Cinema because any wrongdoing by New Line is private in nature, rather than public as required under New York law.

See AP, No punitive damages in ‘LOTR’ suit, Forbes.com, Sept. 26, 2008.

Special thanks to Trina Montalban (attorney, Kell, Alterman & Runstein, L.L.P., Portland, Oregon) for bringing this article to my attention.