Middle-Earth Enforcement

This article first appeared in Entertainment Law Matters, a Frankfurt Kurnit legal blog.

The owner of rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit has threatened legal action against a Hobbit tribute bar in the UK. Middle-earth Enterprises, a division of the Saul Zaentz Company, alleges the 20+ year-old Southampton bar is infringing the beloved Tolkien novel's valuable intellectual property. Middle-earth is demanding The Hobbit pub, decked from door to door in Hobbit regalia, remove all references to the book, which include the name of the pub, wall murals depicting scenes from the story, and cocktails named after the fantasy tales' characters. Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf in the soon-to-be released Hobbit movie, has tweeted his support for the tavern, which has set up "Save The Hobbit" Facebook and Twitter accounts where they now boast some 57,000 fans.