Copyright Information

First of all, this is NOT legal advice, nor should it be construed as such; only a lawyer can give legal advice. This is ‘layman’s advice’, just a couple of simple caveats to help you avoid the need for legal advice.

The most important thing to remember is that The Lord of the Rings does not legally belong to any of us; the copyright, and the rights to use images, characters and other sundries from the book and the movie (aka licensing) are currently owned by Tolkien Enterprises (‘TE’), a subsidiary of the Saul Zaentz Company. TE are the folks who get the final say in what may or may not be done with the copyrighted material they own. This does not necessarily mean that they’ll be mean about it, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. When in doubt, ask permission. And in this case, TE has its own web site instructing you on how to ask them for permission. http://www.tolkien-ent.com/new/index.html. Doesn’t get easier than that.

You might be saying to yourself, "Hey, I drew/painted/sculpted this, isn’t it mine?". Well, yes. The original piece of artwork is yours to do with as you wish, that falls under the ‘fair use’ rule. But manufacturing copies or issuing prints is not considered ‘fair use’, and this is where the copyright holder may choose to stop you. If you are making prints, you are profiting from their copyrighted material, and they may legally force you to desist and possibly claim financial damages. TE has filed suit against an author in Washington violating their copyright, so yes, they will do that. If you really, really want to make 100 prints of your work to sell, ask TE first. For that matter, many printers will refuse to make copies or prints unless you can furnish proof that the copyright holder doesn’t object.

For more information about copyrights in general, Copyright Resources is a good website outlining the rules and giving advice for obtaining permissions. For the laws, check the , U.S. Copyright Office, and their FAQ list is here. Even if you're not curious about copyright law, we recommend FAQ #58 for a mid-day pick up.