I've gotten confirmation that he is still Literary Executor

Thank you for that clarification. I assumed he was indeed no longer going to be the Literary Executor and that is a very important distinction.

Qweniden wrote:

I've gotten confirmation that he is still Literary Executor

Thank you for that clarification. I assumed he was indeed no longer going to be the Literary Executor and that is a very important distinction.

Given he is already 93, I'm not sure it is a particularly important distinction. I don't think we can expect much more from him (even if there is much more to curate that remains worthy of curation). I think he has done the job to the extent it needs doing.

PERMISSIONS AND REQUESTS

Is it possible to write stories that are set in Middle-earth?

The short answer is most definitely NO!

We understand only too well the fascination and enjoyment that the world of Middle-earth can bring, but the fact remains that this is an imaginary world, created by the author on his own terms and in his own right. So, however tempting, to publish this type of fan-fiction for personal or commercial purposes, even online, is absolutely not authorized.

In the era of the Internet, with people selling ‘homemade’ literary works on websites all over the world, it must be unambiguously stated that the Tolkien Estate has never authorized the commercialisation or distribution of such material, and has no intention of doing so.

The Tolkien Estate’s mission is to defend and protect the integrity of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. As literary executor, it has always been Christopher Tolkien's goal to publish the writings of his father—both finished and unfinished—in the most faithful and scrupulous way, without adaptation or embellishment.

www.tolkienestate.com

Think the website needs an update...

BH

PERMISSIONS AND REQUESTS

Is it possible to write stories that are set in Middle-earth?

The short answer is most definitely NO!

We understand only too well the fascination and enjoyment that the world of Middle-earth can bring, but the fact remains that this is an imaginary world, created by the author on his own terms and in his own right. So, however tempting, to publish this type of fan-fiction for personal or commercial purposes, even online, is absolutely not authorized unless you give us USD 250M, in which case, fill your boots.

.

www.tolkienestate.com

Fixed it.

Haha, yes much better

I'm still struggling with the idea that The Tolkien Estate was "shopping" this around. Even sans Christopher, the estate is (I would have thought) a fairly conservative group who surely broadly support the stance the estate has taken up until this time? It's currently still only the family plus lawyers: Baillie, Michael, Priscilla, and Simon Tolkien, plus Cathleen Blackburn and Steven Maier. And they'd obviously been talking before Christopher left in late August.

What's changed? I still don't see any obvious explanation for this turn of events.

BH

Khamûl wrote:
I'm still struggling with the idea that The Tolkien Estate was "shopping" this around. Even sans Christopher, the estate is (I would have thought) a fairly conservative group who surely broadly support the stance the estate has taken up until this time? It's currently still only the family plus lawyers: Baillie, Michael, Priscilla, and Simon Tolkien, plus Cathleen Blackburn and Steven Maier. And they'd obviously been talking before Christopher left in late August.

What's changed? I still don't see any obvious explanation for this turn of events.

BH

Probably money, plain and simple. The amount of money available for TV rights has increased hugely as TV has arguably gone from being the second class citizen to first class. The kinds of money we are talking about (in exchange for doing nothing whatsoever) would be very hard to ignore.

I have a question for you guys. Are you guys happy with the production of new TV series based on LOTR?

No.

No as well.