UPDATED: Tolk_en estate versus the Streisand Effect

Update: I was wrong. Writing on behalf of the Tolkien estate, Steven Maier, partner at the Oxford law firm of Manches LLP, says, "Zazzle has confirmed that it took down the link of its own accord, because its content management department came across the product and deemed it to be potentially infringing."

Zazzle user Harpocrates has a thoroughgoing response to the Tolkien estate's insistence that a badge reading "While You Were Reading Tolkien, I Was Watching Evangelion" infringes on its rights -- a series of tees and buttons.

C_ri_top_er T_lki_n C_ns_r_d My B_dg_ (Thanks, Moonbuggy, via Submitterator)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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manveruppd

The estate’s lawyers are indeed being asinine about this, but I don’t think there’s any need to make this personal: I don’t think Christopher Tolkien spends any time running the estate (in fact he probably spends 90% of his time editing his father’s papers, which gave us a lot of books we wouldn’t otherwise have including the Silmarillion), and from what I’ve heard from people who’ve met him he’s just a kindly old (retired) academic.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Christopher Tolkien is 86, for those who don’t know. We should probably be trying to convert the grandchildren.
Anonymous

I know this is a little off topic, but why would anyone even bother to make a badge that reads “While You Were Reading Tolkien, I Was Watching Evangelion”? Is there some nerd civil war going on between fantasy nerds and otaku?
holtt

The disemvowelled version
a_user

The estate apparently owns JRR Tolkein in any form

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/jrrtolkien
Deidzoeb

The ones with letters missing or covered make sense, but “Tolkien” with a red circle and line through it doesn’t convey any message about censorship. Given the meaning of that symbol through the years, it seems to mean the person wearing the shirt does not like Tolkien, not a commentary on censorship or litigious Chris.
Anonymous

Is it really the Tolkien Estate doing this, or is it Middle Earth Enterprises aka Tolkien Enterprises aka the Saul Zaentz Company, the controller of the rights on the estate’s behalf?
- Donald Petersen
  
  Is it really the Tolkien Estate doing this, or is it Middle Earth Enterprises aka Tolkien Enterprises aka the Saul Zaentz Company, the controller of the rights on the estate’s behalf?
  
  No doubt John Fogerty has an opinion about that.
wookiedingleberry

I’m fully on the bandwagon, and would like to show my support. However, 28 bucks for a t-shirt is goofy. I feel like these prices have been set to take advantage of my giddy enthusiasm.
- Anonymous
  
  The prices are just Zazzle’s defaults – in the ‘Choose your style and color’ box you can get them for anything down to $12.95.
technosean

28 dollars? Wow. That’s way more expensive than T-shirts at the official Tolkien LOTR store. The true cost of censorship? ;)
Robert

Keep on doing it, Tolkien estate. I’m sure JRR will feel so protected that he’ll write some more books. :/
gwailo_joe

JRR=Good.

Chris=No Good.
- Anonymous
  
  How about we refine that just a little more.
  JRR = Good
  Chris’s Editorial skills = Good (I for one genuinely enjoyed The Children of Hurin)
  Chris’s Opinions on copyright laws = ridiculous
holtt

Hey – this is BoingBoing. The T-shirt should read “Tlkn”
Quiet Wyatt

Well, the omitted vowel has worked out fine for Pan sonic…
holtt

Oh what the hell, nothing else to do sitting in the airport. “Tlkn” shirt on Zazzle in 3… 2… 1…
shava

Tolkien believed in the “folk process,” if not full-on free culture. He stole liberally from souces including the Finnish epic, the Kalevala, the Eddas, and various. But he also loved William Morris’ Wolflings, which was about the Riders of the Mark who live in Mirkwood. He credited hobbits to a book he read to his kids.

I can’t imagine he’d approve of the estate’s actions, except perhaps where his work is used outside his personal principles (slash, Bored of the Rings)
Anonymous

Clearly the estate never saw http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20091213 or they’d be coughing up blood about now.
Cefeida

Ugh, not the Tolkien Estate being jerks again. Don’t they see how bad this makes them look? And, honestly, they, of all people, can afford to let the small guys off. Even if they had a case.

But instead, they would rather be jerks. I’m a member on a very large Tolkien themed messageboard, and we went through ridiculous hassle a few years ago- the Tolkien Estate got really aggressive about the website being called Tolkien Online. Whether they had a point or not got lost in the way they attacked a site which is devoted to JRR.

Forum changed its name in the end, but the more significant end result was a few thousand fans being angry at the Estate. Why do they think that’s a good thing?