Xenite.Org News

Tolkien Enterprises clamps down on Other Hands

December 30, 2001 at 23:38:49

Tolkien Enterprises has issued a cease and desist order to the gaming journal Other Hands.

Other Hands is published by Chris Seeman, a former assistant editor for Iron Crown Enterprises. I.C.E. published an authorized role-playing game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings for 18 years, until its license was revoked by Tolkien Enterprises in 1999. I.C.E. went bankrupt and ceased operations in 2000.

Since the demise of the I.C.E. role-playing game, Other Hands has kept part of the old MERP gaming community supplied with new adventure ideas and resources. Some former MERP writers have contributed to the journal, which boasts a world-wide circulation in excess of 100 subscribers, including some of the most respected members of the Tolkien scholarly community. Other Hands has published original research and commentary about the works of J.R.R. Tolkien in conjunction with a handful of other small journals.

Seeman reports in a message sent to subscribers that he has been informed by a legal representative for Tolkien Enterprises that "Other Hands, both the biannual periodical and the website reprinting many of the pieces therefrom, constitutes an unauthorized derivative work of the Tolkien works under the Copyright Act. Other Hands is not limited to commentary on the Tolkien works nor on authorized derivatives thereof."

Seeman acknowledges that Tolkien Enterprise's copyright concerns are reasonable, and he has stated his intention to comply with the order immediately, while seeking clarification from Tolkien Enterprises and/or its legal representative to assist in determining what may or may not be included in future issues.

"If ... all we can do is review products and 'comment' on MERP and LotR RPG," Seeman told his subscribers, "the usefulness of OH may be at an end -- at least the magazine itself".

The cease and desist order is only the latest in a string of legal actions undertaken by Tolkien Enterprises since word was first announced of Peter Jackson's intention to produce one or more movies based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien in early 1998. As Xenite.Org has reported in the past, Tolkien Enterprises withdrew licensing from Sierra Online (now a part of the Vivendi Universal media conglomerate) and Toy Vault.

Industry insiders have alleged that Tolkien Enterprises may have been seeking to eliminate potential competition to movie-related merchandising deals. Toy Vault cancelled production on its line of Middle-earth Action Figures a year earlier than its contract called for, apparently due to pressure from Tolkien Enterprises and/or New Line Cinema. Toy Vault never issued a final statement concerning the matter.

Other targets for legal action or pressure have included several Web sites deemed to be violating intellectual property rights. A widely publicized court order issued against one of the founding members of TheOneRing.Net was initiated by Three Foot Six Productions for unrelated reasons, but the order was quickly withdrawn after receiving worldwide criticism and attention in the media.

Tolkien Enterprises, a division of the Saul Zaentz Company, administers the film and merchandising rights to The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien sold the rights to United Artists in the 1960s, and Zaentz acquired the rights in the 1970s.