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If I were in the Tolkien family, I would certainly view Christopher as one of the authors of at least the Silmarillion material and the HoME etc. It's defendable in court, and it would extend the period of monetary value of the material. There are also legal trusts, etc. that could take charge of the estate (possibly) and extend the copyright even longer, even indefinitely. While it is based in a different country, there are still pieces of music by Mozart and Beethoven and other composers that maintain full copyrights a century or two later. It just depends on how attentive the family is, and how valuable the material remains. I would not expect free reign on Middle Earth material in most of our lifetimes. Sorry.
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But all the while I sit and think of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.
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