Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York
paperback copyright of Lord of the Rings
What does Eisen, Durwood &Co. v. Christopher R. Tolkien, 794 & Supp. 85, 23 U.S.P.Q 2nd 1150 (S. D.N.Y. 1992). affirmed without opinion, 99DF. 2nd 623 (2nd Cir. 1993) say about paperback copyright status of Lord of the Rings.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: paperback copyright of Lord of the Rings
You'll need to google this or pay someone for a legal opinion. We can't give legal opinions for free because we have bills to pay--e.g., malpractice insurance. Good luck!
Re: paperback copyright of Lord of the Rings
The unremarkable holding of the case is that you don't create a new work to which you have a copyright by simply stealing the existing copyright-protected work of an author and putting it in a different format.
Re: paperback copyright of Lord of the Rings
In other words, crime doesn't pay. If you want to find out who owns the rights, try going to Amazon and look at the copyright pages for the paperbacks though this is not necessarily definitive. Or, you can do what lawyers do and search the copyright office (copyright.gov)
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