Tolkien lawsuite apparently going to court
An update on the Tolkien lawsuit from Kristin Thompson:
http://www.kristinthompson.net/blog/?p=751
Tolkien Trust lawsuit apparently going to court
Today Bloomberg is reporting that after settlement talks between the Tolkien Trust and New Line Cinema the two sides remain far from agreement and at this point are proceeding to trial. As of now, the trial date is scheduled for October 19 of this year; the case will be tried before a jury in Los Angeles.
The Bloomberg story says that the Trust is demanding payment of over $220 million, based on the percentage of revenues stipulated in the 1969 contracts for the author’s sale of film rights to his novel. The figure originally was $150 million, but the plaintiffs had reserved the right to raise that based on bookkeeping records made available to them for audit. Presumably they’ve now seen such records and have recalculated what is owed.
The author, Brett Pulley, has given a good summary of where things stand now. The two sides seem to be digging in their heels for a tussle. Bonnie Eskenazi, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, is quoted as saying “Should this case go all the way through trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its right to release ‘The Hobbit.’”
On the other hand, Pierce O’Donnell, who represented Art Buchwald in his successful lawsuit against Paramount back in 1988, says, “The studios have historically played hardball in litigation. Also, these are hard times and they maybe think it’s cheaper to pay the lawyers than to pay a large claim. And maybe the lawyers think they have meritorious defenses.” O’Donnell adds that he would bet that some money is owed here. But New Line presumably does have some defenses to present, perhaps not in the hopes of coming away owing nothing but at least to reduce the total it has to pay.
Unless the two sides finally can reach agreement or the case is postponed, we should see this drama finally unfold in court in about three months.
(Thanks for both David Platt and Paolo Pereira for alerting me to this breaking news.)
Note: Voronwë the Faithful (who, as I have mentioned, is a lawyer), recently started a thread on TheOneRing.net’s message boards that is relevant here. He suggests reasons why he doubts that the Tolkien Trust could gain the right to have New Line’s contract to produce The Hobbit taken away.
http://www.kristinthompson.net/blog/?p=751
Tolkien Trust lawsuit apparently going to court
Today Bloomberg is reporting that after settlement talks between the Tolkien Trust and New Line Cinema the two sides remain far from agreement and at this point are proceeding to trial. As of now, the trial date is scheduled for October 19 of this year; the case will be tried before a jury in Los Angeles.
The Bloomberg story says that the Trust is demanding payment of over $220 million, based on the percentage of revenues stipulated in the 1969 contracts for the author’s sale of film rights to his novel. The figure originally was $150 million, but the plaintiffs had reserved the right to raise that based on bookkeeping records made available to them for audit. Presumably they’ve now seen such records and have recalculated what is owed.
The author, Brett Pulley, has given a good summary of where things stand now. The two sides seem to be digging in their heels for a tussle. Bonnie Eskenazi, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, is quoted as saying “Should this case go all the way through trial, we are confident that New Line will lose its right to release ‘The Hobbit.’”
On the other hand, Pierce O’Donnell, who represented Art Buchwald in his successful lawsuit against Paramount back in 1988, says, “The studios have historically played hardball in litigation. Also, these are hard times and they maybe think it’s cheaper to pay the lawyers than to pay a large claim. And maybe the lawyers think they have meritorious defenses.” O’Donnell adds that he would bet that some money is owed here. But New Line presumably does have some defenses to present, perhaps not in the hopes of coming away owing nothing but at least to reduce the total it has to pay.
Unless the two sides finally can reach agreement or the case is postponed, we should see this drama finally unfold in court in about three months.
(Thanks for both David Platt and Paolo Pereira for alerting me to this breaking news.)
Note: Voronwë the Faithful (who, as I have mentioned, is a lawyer), recently started a thread on TheOneRing.net’s message boards that is relevant here. He suggests reasons why he doubts that the Tolkien Trust could gain the right to have New Line’s contract to produce The Hobbit taken away.