On the day when the sixth “Harry Potter” film officially opens, The Am Law Daily finds it fitting that we have reason to write about the ultimate in popular nerd books turned movies: J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which has grossed more than $6 billion in box office receipts, DVD sales and other merchandising, according to Bloomberg.
Curiously, though, the heirs to Tolkien’s estate haven’t received a cent of that money, even though Tolkien sold the movie rights to his world-famous trilogy in 1969 in exchange for $250,000 and 7.5 percent of all future movie receipts. The heirs, represented by the Los Angeles-based Greenberg Glusker, filed suit against New Line Cinema, the subsidiary of Time Warner that made the films, claiming the studio has used all sorts of accounting magic worthy of Gandalf (or maybe Saruman?) to get out of paying the heirs, according to court records.
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