A judge has ruled that a Santa Monica fan-writer's unauthorized sequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" violated copyright protections and ordered him not to distribute the book and to destroy all electronic and physical copies of it, according to court papers obtained Friday.
Demetrious Polychron self-published his book, "The Fellowship of the King," in 2022, after the Tolkien estate refused to grant rights to sequels or extensions of work by the renowned fantasy author, who died in 1973, papers filed in Los Angeles federal court show.
In April, Polychron attempted to sue the estate and Amazon, claiming the Amazon Prime Video series, "Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power," ripped off his ideas and infringed the copyright in his work of fan-fiction.
The Tolkien estate responded with a lawsuit of its own, alleging that it was actually Polychron who committed copyright infringement by publishing and selling his work of fan-fiction without permission. The estate sought a court order preventing further distribution of the work, accusing the author of "willful and blatant" copyright violation in creating and profiting from derivative works.
Polychron's book used characters from "Lord of the Rings," and copied at least 15 poems or passages from the trilogy, according to court papers, which said Polychron planned a seven-book series.
U.S. District Judge Steven Wilson tossed Polychron's suit against the estate and Amazon, finding that the self-published book infringed on the Tolkien estate's copyright. The judge also ruled against Polychron in the estate's lawsuit.
In a Dec. 14 order, Polychron was hit with a permanent injunction requiring him to destroy all physical and electronic copies of "The Fellowship of the King" and preventing him from publishing any new work based on Tolkien's material. Wilson also ordered him to pay legal fees for Amazon and the Tolkien estate, totaling around $134,000.
"This is an important success for the Tolkien Estate, which will not permit unauthorized authors and publishers to monetize J.R.R. Tolkien's much- loved works in this way," the estate's U.K. solicitor Steven Maier said in a statement.
Polychron could not be reached for comment.
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