Thanks for the link Trotter :)
The Lord of the Rings, 9787208195226, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, June 2025.
Though dozens of new Tolkien books have published in China since last year's public domain, this is the first English one.
I suggested the publishers making a LR first edition facsimile, or a new edition correcting all those typos, yet to no avail. Apparently this specific market is too small.
Though dozens of new Tolkien books have published in China since last year's public domain, this is the first English one.
I suggested the publishers making a LR first edition facsimile, or a new edition correcting all those typos, yet to no avail. Apparently this specific market is too small.

zionius wrote:
The Lord of the Rings, 9787208195226, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, June 2025.
Though dozens of new Tolkien books have published in China since last year's public domain, this is the first English one.
I suggested the publishers making a LR first edition facsimile, or a new edition correcting all those typos, yet to no avail. Apparently this specific market is too small.
I don't think a facsimile edition would even be possible. Though the underlying original text is public domain in China, I think various trademarks would be a problem (though perhaps not in China, so long as they weren't sold outside of China).
The barrier to exploitation of Tolkien being in the public domain is always going to be the trademarks. Tolkien is currently PD in NZ, but we haven't seen anyone try and publish anything. The Estate would just drown anyone in litigation, so it isn't worth the hassle.
In terms of corrected text, I suspect that is NOT in the public domain. I would assume the corrections are credited to those who did the correcting, with that copyright then assigned back to the estate. IANAL, though.
The late Stu wrote:
zionius wrote:
The Lord of the Rings, 9787208195226, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, June 2025.
Though dozens of new Tolkien books have published in China since last year's public domain, this is the first English one.
I suggested the publishers making a LR first edition facsimile, or a new edition correcting all those typos, yet to no avail. Apparently this specific market is too small.
I don't think a facsimile edition would even be possible. Though the underlying original text is public domain in China, I think various trademarks would be a problem (though perhaps not in China, so long as they weren't sold outside of China).
The barrier to exploitation of Tolkien being in the public domain is always going to be the trademarks. Tolkien is currently PD in NZ, but we haven't seen anyone try and publish anything. The Estate would just drown anyone in litigation, so it isn't worth the hassle.
The Estate registered 4 trademarks (in publication, toys etc) in China last year: 托尔金, TOLKIEN, the monogram, the signature. So far most PD books have avoided using the latter two.
Many more were registered by MEE, but I think they are not in publication areas.
zionius wrote:
The late Stu wrote:
zionius wrote:
The Lord of the Rings, 9787208195226, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, June 2025.
Though dozens of new Tolkien books have published in China since last year's public domain, this is the first English one.
I suggested the publishers making a LR first edition facsimile, or a new edition correcting all those typos, yet to no avail. Apparently this specific market is too small.
I don't think a facsimile edition would even be possible. Though the underlying original text is public domain in China, I think various trademarks would be a problem (though perhaps not in China, so long as they weren't sold outside of China).
The barrier to exploitation of Tolkien being in the public domain is always going to be the trademarks. Tolkien is currently PD in NZ, but we haven't seen anyone try and publish anything. The Estate would just drown anyone in litigation, so it isn't worth the hassle.
The Estate registered 4 trademarks (in publication, toys etc) in China last year: 托尔金, TOLKIEN, the monogram, the signature. So far most PD books have avoided using the latter two.
Many more were registered by MEE, but I think they are not in publication areas.
I don't see any way around the "TOLKIEN" one. I suspect they are letting Simplified Chinese stuff slide, but I can't see them taking English Language editions lying down if they start to proliferate. I think it is wholly wrong that this is the case, but I think Tolkien is going to be hard to exploit in the western public domain (because we let the rich people write the rules). Tolkien is actually going to be going back out of PD at some point because we let the rich people bully us when writing Free Trade Agreements. A change that is costing NZ (and its library system) an enormous amount of money due to the huge amount of PD material that is going to cease to be. Thanks, UK.
My understanding is "TOLKIEN" only forbid you using it like a trademark, elsewise it would be ridiculous.
Actually a UK company has been selling Tolkien ebook in English for a year in all PD countries.
Actually a UK company has been selling Tolkien ebook in English for a year in all PD countries.
zionius wrote:
My understanding is "TOLKIEN" only forbid you using it like a trademark, elsewise it would be ridiculous.
Actually a UK company has been selling Tolkien ebook in English for a year in all PD countries.
I don't believe you can use it in any advertising of your product (and a product you can't advertise is essentially a non-starter). This is what I have been told in the past. So you can have a book with Tolkien on it (assuming it is a PD work by Tolkien), but you can't advertise said book as that would be infringing the trademark. Again, IANAL.
I don't know anything about the UK company you talk about, so I can't comment.
J.R.R. Tolkien and G.B. Smith: With Wind in our Ears
by Giuseppe Pezzini (Editor)

by Giuseppe Pezzini (Editor)

Despite his discreet personality, private “vices”, and literary idiosyncrasies, Tolkien was in fact a deeply collaborative figure, both as a scholar and, above all, as a writer. This volume is dedicated to one of his earliest and most significant creative and personal collaborations, his friendship with G.B. Smith: an alumnus of Corpus Christi College, Tolkien’s school friend and fellow member of the TCBS, and indeed his closest companion during university years.A gifted poet, Smith published only one collection, A Spring Harvest, edited posthumously by Tolkien after Smith’s death in the trenches of the Somme – another lost voice among the First World War poets. The volume explores this relationship from biographical, literary, and philosophical perspectives, focusing on the content and style of Smith’s poetry, Tolkien’s editorial work, their shared intellectual world, and the lasting influence of Smith on Tolkien’s imagination. In doing so, it also seeks to give Smith his due, recognising A Spring Harvest not only as the premature culmination of his talent, but also as a body of work carried forward and fulfilled in the enduring legacy of his friend, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Two newly listed HarperCollins books for next year.
THE LETTERS OF J. R. R. TOLKIEN: Revised and Expanded edition [Deluxe edition; not-US]
February 12, 2026
I expect this to be a 'signature' paperback.
The Battle of Maldon: together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
J. R. R. Tolkien, Peter Grybauskas (Edited by)
Release Date : January 29, 2026
THE LETTERS OF J. R. R. TOLKIEN: Revised and Expanded edition [Deluxe edition; not-US]
February 12, 2026
I expect this to be a 'signature' paperback.
The Battle of Maldon: together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth
J. R. R. Tolkien, Peter Grybauskas (Edited by)
Release Date : January 29, 2026





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