[The Saucepan Man]

OK. Having waffled on about the law at length, perhaps it's time I applied my mind to the issue at hand.

While I do not share davem's concerns over the change that has given rise to this thread, I do think that he is on to a matter of potential concern. As I understand it, although the film and merchandising rights were sold off long ago, the Tolkien estate retains the rights in the literary work itself. And I believe that Christopher Tolkien pretty much controls the estate. That means that (in theory, as a matter of law) he and his successors have pretty much carte blanche to carry on formulating new editions making whatever changes to it they wish.

Now, I accept that it is unlikely to be in the nature of CT to introduce any changes which he does not believe represent his father's intentions. But I disagree with Aiwendil that he would not implement a change merely because he felt that it would improve the work. Surely, the reason why he is introducing changes which he feels better reflect his father's intentions is precisely because he feels that they will 'improve' it. In other words, he considers a LotR which more closely reflects his father's intent to be a 'better' LotR.

And, whether he is right or wrong in his assessment of what his father's intentions were (and he is of course one of the best placed people in this regard), this does nevertheless provide significant scope for a change in the nature of the work. We already have one change (that which started this thread off) which some believe (quite justifiably, in my view) significantly alters the meaning of what Legolas is saying concerning the nature of his race. And that just involves the alteration of a few words. To continue down this road could potentially, given sufficient alterations, lead to a work which is fundamentally different from that which we currently have, albeit one which CT believes better reflects his father's intentions.

Unlikely? Perhaps while the work remains in CT's care. But what of those who follow him as guardians of Tolkien's legacy? Perhaps they will consider themselves entitled (morally as well as legally) to continue tinkering with the text to better acheive what they see as Tolkien's original intent. Or perhaps they will take a less scrupulous approach than CT and seek to 'improve' on it for less worthy reasons.

Admittedly this applies to any literary work. But, given the precedent that CT has set, there is arguably a greater chance of it happening with LotR. I am not, by any means, saying that it will happen - simply that it is a reasonable possibility.

Oh, and one further legal point:

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

especially since so many Middle Earth names have been trade marked we are all no doubt infringing shedloads of stuff when we RPG but the good news is that I imagine a successful prosecution is unlikely

Names are not protected by copyright and I should imagine that Middle-earth names are only trade marked in the context of merchandising (to prevent similar products using the same name). I therefore doubt that there is any potential for infringement in using Middle earth names in an RPG or a fan fic (neither of which involve commercial exploitation of the names, in any event). [Disclaimer applies]