Legal News

Tolkien heirs to New Line: And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost ... like our percentage

By Richard Binder

J.R.R. Tolkien sold movie rights to his ''Lord of the Rings'' novels 40 years ago for 7.5 per cent of future receipts. Three films and $6 billion later, his heirs say they haven't seen a cent from Time Warner.

New Line Cinema's accounting methods will face a jury's scrutiny in October when the heirs' lawsuit against the New York-based media company is set for trial in Los Angeles Superior Court. New Line is the Time Warner unit that made the films based on the Tolkien novels.

The case, if not settled by then, may provide a window into accounting practices that let Time Warner deny proceeds of the Oscar-winning films to Tolkien's heirs. The litigation also threatens to derail two films based on "The Hobbit."

Greenberg Glusker is the Los Angeles firm representing the Tolkien heirs. The studio is represented by Brad Brian and Mark Helm at Munger Tolles & Olson LLP in Los Angeles.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on July 15, 2009 (boomark / email).