What About The Lord of the Rings Copyrights?

Recently, we got the news that new Lord of the Rings movies are coming. So what about Lord of the Rings copyrights? Who owns the copyright of Middle Earth? How will these rights affect new films?

What About The Lord of the Rings Copyrights? (Who owns the Middle-earth Copyright?)

The complexity of Middle-earth copyrights begins when JRR Tolkien sells some of his rights to United Artists in 1969 due to tax debt.

Thus, the copyrights are divided into two. On the one hand is the Tolkien Estate, which retains all of Tolkien's books and the publishing and TV broadcast rights to them. On the other side is United Artists, which only owns the movie, game and product rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

The Tolkien Estate side is the side where Christopher Tolkien was at the beginning for many years and does not give any license other than the printing of the books. Their TV license has been given to Amazon Studios since 2017, and thus the Rings of Power series will start airing as of 2022. This part is quite simple and understandable.

On the other hand, things are a little more active. United Artists, which acquired the movie, game and product rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, sold it to Saul Zaentz in 1976, and they formed Tolkien Enterprises.

The first feature-length animated movie comes in 1977 for The Hobbit from Rankin/Bass. In 1978, it continues with Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings animation. Again in 1980, he completes his animated films by making the Rankin/Bass Return of the King animation.

When we come to 1997, the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies are optional to Miramax. Peter Jackson is reviving waters that have been stagnant for years, and in 1998 New Line Cinema purchased this option from Miramax.

Thus, Middle-earth is experiencing its golden ages between 2001 and 2007 in the cinema and game industry. The Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy is taking the world by storm. On the other hand, EA Games, by making the games of the movie, is bringing a legend, including The Battle for Middle-earth series, to the game market. Turbine, on the other hand, offers fans of the Lord of the Rings books LOTRO, the Lord of the Rings Online, an open world MMORPG where they can travel almost all of Middle-earth.

By 2009, Warner Bros Games is taking over EA's game license and is largely prioritizing mobile games. Although important games such as The War in North and Middle-earth series are released in this process, Warner Bros remains weak in terms of gameplay.

In 2010, Tolkien Enterprises changed its name to Middle-earth Enterprises. Between 2012 and 2014, New Line Cinema, MGM and Warner Bros. brought the Hobbit trilogy to the big screen, but although the films were successful at the box office, they did not receive positive reviews from the audience as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Thus, Middle-earth again enters a period of recession.

When we come to 2022, Saul Zaentz, who wants to take advantage of the popularity of the Rings of Power series, says he wants to sell his company Middle-earth Enterprises and the Lord of the Rings copyrights. Embracer Group, which came out as a buyer last August, says it has made 8 separate purchases, including Middle-earth Enterprises, for $780 million. Although it is not known exactly how much he gave to Middle-earth Enterprises alone, this amount is estimated to be around 400-500 million dollars. Which is a bargain for such a gigantic universe.

Since I've announced the Lord of the Rings copyrights, let me tell you what's in the 5-year future plans of Middle-earth at the point we've reached.

First of all, the shooting of the second season of the Rings of Power series continues and the second season is expected to be released in about a year. Five seasons and future spin-offs of the series are planned. Season 3 confirmation will be announced soon.

If we look at the game world, a total of 5 Lord of the Rings games will be released in 2 years . These are Daedalic Entertainment's Gollum game, Epic Games' Return to Moria game, EA's Heroes of Middle-earth mobile game, and Weta's unnamed and platformer game with Take-Two. Neither the name nor the producer of the 5th game has been announced yet. It is thought that Embracer Group will also make their own games, but nothing has been announced about them yet.

When we look at the movies again, with the newly announced deal, many movies that will take place in the 3rd Age are expected to come, but for now, only The War of the Rohirrim, which will be released in April next year, is certain.

New films can only be made from stories from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books, unless additional deals are made. So it can't process stories from The Silmarillion or other Middle-earth books.

The stories to be told in the new movies have to be in the 3rd Age due to Lord of the Rings copyrights and have to take place in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books. This is exact information.

As for the question of whether we should be worried or excited? My usual advice is, it's good to be cautiously excited without getting your expectations too high.