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US-based author Demetrious Polychron thought he was being proactive when he sued the Tolkien estate and Amazon for copyright infringement.

Polychron is the author of a fanfiction novel called ‘The Fellowship of the King,’ what he called a “picture-perfect” sequel to the Lord of the Rings franchise, and the first in a seven-part series of books.

In April, the author attempted to sue the Tolkien estate and Amazon, claiming that ‘Rings of Power’ stole ideas from his book and demanding $250 million (€228 million) in compensation.

According to court documents, Polychron had sent Simon Tolkien, director of the Tolkien estate and grandson of Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien, a manuscript of his book long before it was published. He asked to collaborate with the Tolkien Estate on the sequel, but received no response.

Polychron published ‘The Fellowship of the King’ independently in September 2022, around the same time the TV series ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ premiered on Amazon Prime Video.

His case was dismissed by a US court in August, with the judge describing the lawsuit as “frivolous and unreasonably filed,” considering Polychron had clearly presented his work as a sequel to The Lord of the Rings.

An expensive countersuit

Last week, a California judge ruled against Polychron once again, in a countersuit filed by the Tolkien Estate.

Tolkien estate’s lawsuit claims that the book copied plot points and even lifted some phrases verbatim from Tolkien’s trilogy. 

‘The Fellowship of the King’ takes place two decades after the end of the Lord of the Rings series and features characters from Tolkien’s trilogy including Samwise Gamgee, Aragorn and Legolas, according to the lawsuit.

The court ordered the fanfiction author to destroy all physical and digital copies of ‘The Fellowship of the King’ and granted a permanent injunction to prevent him from selling or keeping any of his stories. Polychron was also ordered to pay $134,000 (€122,000) worth of legal fees to the Tolkien Estate and Amazon.

The Tolkien estate’s lawyers hailed the decision as a victory for intellectual property.

“This is an important success for the Tolkien Estate, which will not permit unauthorised authors and publishers to monetise JRR Tolkien’s much-loved works in this way,” attorney Steven Maier said.

“This case involved a serious infringement of The Lord of the Rings copyright, undertaken on a commercial basis, and the estate hopes that the award of a permanent injunction and attorneys’ fees will be sufficient to dissuade others who may have similar intentions.”