Are you suffering from Stockholm Syndrome?

Yes, I’d say Christopher Tolkien is milking his father’s work. No matter how much effort he’s put into editing, he had his father’s notes, unfinished manuscripts and reputation as raw material. Getting the Silmarillion published? Okay, I’ll grant him that. Unfinished Tales? Pushing it. Twelve volumes of the History of Middle-Earth? Hm, I think I hear the cows. The Children of Hurin and Sigurd and Gudrun? Pull up a stool, Bessie, ’cause it’s milking time!

As for the anon commenter who accused me of exploitation: I put these buttons on Zazzle because it was only place I could think of that would churn out buttons in time for me to pass around the World Fantasy Convention in 2009. The version in the picture didn’t have Madeline’s URl; I changed it because the quote is hers, and she deserved the attribution. If I recall, Zazzle wouldn’t let me put on a mark-up of zero; so, in the end, I (or, rather, Madeline) made a whopping $.63. EXPLOITATION!

Madeline’s quote is a valid piece of cultural criticism. What the Tolkien estate did and continues to do is wrong and stupid and small-minded. I’ve written the EFF to see if this is the kind of thing they’d be interested in pursuing, especially since I think it will have a chilling effect. We’ll see how it goes.

That said, if Chris Tolkien was truly milking his father’s legacy, surely he would’ve pulled a Brian Herbert and started writing his own fan-fiction disguised as “authorized sequels”? Printing and collating his father’s notes and words is one thing, but at least he isn’t inflicting “The Return of the Shadow, Book VI” on us.

Besides, printing History of Middle-earth and Unfinished Tales can’t possibly compare in sales to The Hobbit and the Original Trilogy anyway, since only diehard Tolkien fans are going to get those two. Certainly not The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, excepting some poor souls thinking this was a new Middle-earth tale. Not really much of a milking session.

The clues were scant, so here’s some more detail. Mervyn Peake. Male. His ‘Gormenghast’ trilogy starts with ‘Titus Groan’.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_Peake – mentions Tolkien in the first paragraph, so you’re on safe ground.

Enjoy.

Unfinished Tales? Pushing it.

Actually, Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin is my favorite bit of Tolkieniana. But the other hundred volumes of notes on cocktail napkins does go on a bit.

After my seventh time through the series, I finally started reading and really enjoying the poetry.

I’ve read it every year since 1967. My friends wish me Happy New Years on September 23rd every year. But I still can’t get through Sam’s troll poem, there are way too many scenes that only work if water runs uphill, and where the hell does Galadriel shit if she lives 300 feet up a tree?

But most of the other posthumous publishing are crud. Rough drafts, and the like. There are a few gems, but hardly enough to fill a dozen volumes. Not worth the time of anyone but a Tolkien biographer.

This can’t be a trademark issue. Even if the name is trademarked, the button was using the name to reference the rightful owner, and since there is no reasonable possibility of thinking the button was endorsed by the Tolkien estate. It can’t be copyright, since you can’t reasonably have copyright over your name (it isn’t an expression of an idea of any kind). I’d never heard of rights of publicity before reading these comments. Now I have some reading up to do!

And @Adam, good luck finding a button company that won’t cave so easily, if you go that route.

Every so often they find me and try to order the site to take down my stuff–BECAUSE I AM USING MY OWN DAMN NAME. So far, my argument that none of my stuff is reasonably within Tolkien trademarks has prevailed, but it’s been a headache on occasion.

Their takedown demands don’t always have anything to do with reality, just with grabbing as hard as they can.

Christopher will demand a TOKEN payment for this badge.

Idea: Lets make a way around the spelling part and use it, but to tell you the true, if we stop using it and mentioning his books and name maybe no one would know about him and the money coming to their blood suckers will dry out.

The trademark registration “Tolkien” expired in Europe on 4th February 2010 so they cannot claim protection on that specific term on that basis.

Looks like the estate may have been acting unlawfully in that they may have committed the tort of interference in a contract.

New button: “Nobody reads Christopher Tolkien.”

I think that’s known as a win-win-win situation.

BTW, Bleach is better than both LoTR and NGE. So there. Bleach is better than Star Wars.