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8 Nov, 2010 (edited)
2010-11-8 4:59:53 PM UTC
I am sad to have to report that both the book and event have been canceled by ADC books.

Hi, I am sorry to have to advise that despite the tremendous work and dedication to this project by Angela Gardner, Neil Holford, the Publishers, designers, artists, and financial backing by ADC Publications Ltd I have no choice but to cancel the publication of the book for legal reasons. Despite many revisions and changes made at the insistence of The Tolkien Estate it appears that The Tolkien Estate will seek to take court action to prevent the release of this book regardless. Everyone involved in the publication has worked hard to meet the requests of The Tolkien Estate time and time again, however it would be misleading to release a Biography on Hilary Tolkien without proper reference to his close relationship with his brother. The launch event on Saturday 4th December has therefore been cancelled and a full refund will be made shortly to anyone has placed advanced orders. Best wishes Andrew Compton

My regrets to all who have been involved in this project, I know how much time and work went into the book.
8 Nov, 2010
2010-11-8 6:14:19 PM UTC
Oof! I didn't see that coming. I'm sorry to hear it.
8 Nov, 2010
2010-11-8 7:10:05 PM UTC
That is unfortunate; I was looking forward to this book. It does not surprise me, though. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last. Something similar happened to the Jonah book about Tolkien's translation. I completely respect the Tolkien Estate but it seems like they are at times a bit overprotective of Tolkien's writings.

Sorry for those who labored so long on this book project.
9 Nov, 2010
2010-11-9 4:04:44 AM UTC
The Tolkien Estate's purpose in life is, of course, to continue to monetize Tolkien's work to the maximum extent possible and squeeze every last penny from the buying public. Unfortunately, I think this means they have to try to protect an authorised "reality" (which may well be distinct from actual reality).

That said, I'm personally not quite sure what is terribly interesting about the brother of someone famous (but perhaps I would have discovered something unexpected if I had had the opportunity to read the book). In truth, whilst [JRR] Tolkien's literary output interests me, the man himself not so much. Likewise, I tend to feel that his brother would only be of interest in the context of his own work.

Still, I think it is a real shame for those who who have put in a lot of effort to create this book and for those whose tastes differ from my own and would have gained value from it. I think it is a pity that the official Tolkien establishment cares so little about the kinds of people who cherish it's output the most. A pity, but not a surprise.

Stu
9 Nov, 2010
2010-11-9 8:13:04 AM UTC
I don't agree on your vision of the Tolkien's Estate purpose - they are the legal body who manage mainly the copyright of Tolkien. Which was asked so by J.R.R. Tolkien in his will.

When writing anything that Tolkien wrote, when you wish to quote any letter he wrote, wish to reproduce any picture of him (that is not under copyright of Billet Potter or other photographers,...) or a drawing of him, you need to contact the Estate FIRST and work with them to get permissions to get things published. You cannot expect to write a book first and then think they will just say OK to it. You cannot go and take a car out of a garage, drive all around the planet and then come back to pay for it. There is a way of working they follow which I believe to be very natural and logic.

And by the way, the Tolkien Estate is not so bad if you look at other literary estates, who for example demand money every time you wish to reproduce a letter or picture... there are many literary estate who are MUCH more difficult to work with. In comparison talk with people who wanted to bring out a Tolkien related game and had to work with Tolkien Enterprises and see how they operate before you judge the Tolkien Estate - Tolkien Enterprises is a business and they think with a business mind. The Tolkien Estate is something completely different and really are not having a mind on money as Stu claims, in all talks I had with them not one single time they talked about money - that is a completely wrong way of portraying them!

It is truly a pity this book is not being published, the material would be of interest to anyone interested into Tolkien, but it is no surprise they act like this. Maybe there is still hope? The Tolkien Estate tends to play it very hard, but sometimes they end up giving an OK in the end. My experience is that if you stay positive and talk positive and show the passion you have to get something done they tend to start to listen to you... if you play it hard they will close the door completely. Logic so.
9 Nov, 2010 (edited)
2010-11-9 8:24:21 AM UTC
Beren wrote:

" I don't agree on your vision of the Tolkien's Estate purpose - they are the legal body who manage mainly the copyright of Tolkien. Which was asked so by J.R.R. Tolkien in his will. "

The sole purpose of copyright itself is to control "monetization" of the work under copyright. Such laws exist to ensure that the resource continues to be a viable source of revenue for the entity that holds the copyright. Do you believe that the copyright would have been allowed to expire and his work would have gone into the public domain if Tolkien had not expressly made requests in his will?? I hardly think so!

[Edit: Although I accept they might not be quite as evil as I portray - I do have somewhat of a negative view of the establishment and consider pretty much everyone and everything in the universe to be evil -- the posters on this forum excepted, of course!]

[Edit2: I suppose my two cats are not strictly speaking evil, but are certainly very, very, very naughty. Oh, and and my wife (who is a paediatric emergency doctor) might also not *technically* be evil, but again fairly pesky sometimes, especially after a night shift]

Stu
9 Nov, 2010
2010-11-9 8:43:41 AM UTC
I understand what you write and indeed it is my experience that many literary estates act like that - but in case of the Tolkien Estate I don't know one author who actually had to "pay" the Estate to publish about Tolkien.
Do you think SO MANY books would have been published about the professor if all they were after was money? I believe it is mainly about trust, the good name of Tolkien and now already 4 generations that depend on it...

You also have to see that the copyright is there "possession" - and so if you want to do anything you will need to ask permission. Why is it logic so for people to ask permission to lend items, to enter archives, etc but think they can publish anything they like. It is not because I own many handwritten letters by J.R.R. Tolkien that I can just start publishing them... don't you see the logic?

Anyways, if you wish I can talk about some other literary estates and tell how they work and how they truly 'monetize' the copyright and then you will feel that the Tolkien Estate is very easy. All depends of course on how (and when) you approach them...
9 Nov, 2010
2010-11-9 9:43:40 AM UTC
"You also have to see that the copyright is there "possession" - and so if you want to do anything you will need to ask permission. Why is it logic so for people to ask permission to lend items, to enter archives, etc but think they can publish anything they like. It is not because I own many handwritten letters by J.R.R. Tolkien that I can just start publishing them... don't you see the logic?"

Of course anything written by Tolkien would naturally be the IP of his estate (although I believe this is not necessarily the case in all locales). Anyway, I'm not arguing that anyone should be able to publish anything that they like, and anything that is published needs to be demonstrably factual (and certainly not libelous, especially in the UK). Most books about Tolkien that would feature small extracts of his work for the purposes of criticism would be covered by the doctrine of fair use. There is really absolutely no requirement to have the authorisation of the estate to write a book about Tolkien, depending on the content. I'm sure plenty of books about Tolkien do not have any explicit approval. If the book uses material copyright of the estate, then that is another matter (again, subject to fair use).

However, where an author or estate is very powerful, challenging that something falls under the fair use doctrine is probably next to impossible.

Stu
9 Nov, 2010
2010-11-9 10:21:35 AM UTC
OK... only thing I wanted to say is that with a positive attitude there is maybe still hope to get an agreement and get the book published. That would be very nice and is something we can only hope for!
9 Nov, 2010
2010-11-9 9:17:41 PM UTC
The last day or two has been "interesting" to say the least. I have seen a lot of opinions given on the situation. As one of the authors of the book I thought I should say a few words to, if nothing else, correct a few misunderstandings.

This is not the place to go into things in any great detail, but I can say that the Estate's lawyers Manches were contacted at an early stage of the project and several times as it progressed.

The book itself is often referred to as a biography of Hilary Tolkien, but its objective is/was to fill in the (very large) gaps in what is known of his life, to correct some incorrect information that is out there, to trace Hilary and Ronald's lives (together and apart) and to try to show that they (and the extended family) were very close – something you may not realize from reading the various biographies in print. Along the way we earthed all sorts of interesting bits and pieces, and tell more of family and friends that have hitherto been little more than names. As Stu quite correctly comments, this is not something that will be of interest to some/many Tolkien readers, but there is a small but passionate group that, like me, want to know about all things Tolkien – his life, his views and his influences.

We wanted to include various letters in the book, some from members of Ronald's family, or failing that to give some account of their contents to illustrate how close and loving the family was and what they talked to each other about. This has been the sticking point that it has not been possible to overcome thus far.

I should also point out that the Estate have not been demanding money for permissions or anything like that. They are not out to make money, merely to protect the copyrights, which are commercially sensitive. Their stance is that publication would reduce the value of the letters and consequently reduce the value of other Tolkien letters.

The madness of the situation is that every year we see letters published in part or in full in auction and sale catalogues. This is of course not restricted by copyright considerations as the items are for sale and it is considered fair dealing to show the buyer what they are paying out their hard earned money for.

The publication of the book had to be cancelled as there was not time to make further changes to the book and get it printed and bound in time for the launch. What happens in the future I really don’t know. Only time will tell.

Personally, I have had a lot of fun writing the book and have learned so much and worked out so many things that would never otherwise have occurred to me. Following Hilary through the First World War was especially moving. Just to sit and leaf through the letters and photographs was a huge thrill and a great privilege. I felt very much like a little boy let loose in a toy shop for the first time. I have got to know Hilary and Ronald and their family better than I ever would have if the book had never been started, and that is what really matters to me.
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