Lord of the Rings: Amazon Wins Plagiarism Lawsuit

Justice ruled: No, the Rings of Power series was not a plagiarism of a Lord of the Rings novel written by an independent author. In April of last year, writer Demetrius Polychronos sued the Prime Video platform, claiming that the most expensive series of all time was inspired without elements of his book. King’s Fellowship.

In this seven-book novel published in 2022, the American author imagines a continuation of JRR Tolkien’s trilogy about Eleanor, Sam Gamgee’s daughter. This novel is described by its author as “Perfect Suite” (sic) was submitted to the Tolkien Foundation a few years earlier, which refused to edit it.

Eleanor also appears in one of the main roles in the TV series Rings of Power. But the latter belongs to the Pivelus race (distant ancestors of the hobbits), and the plot of the program takes place several millennia before the adventures of the Fellowship of the Ring.

So it’s hard to see any connection between these two stories…

His book will still become a collector’s item

Demanding an astronomical $250 million from Prime Video and the Tolkien Foundation for this not-so-obvious plagiarism, Demetrius Polykhroni was eventually acquitted and ordered to pay $134,000 in attorney’s fees.

A California court also ordered a ban on the sale of his novel and the sequel, which was to be published, and destroyed the remaining physical and digital copies. Justice also demanded that the writer pay his own legal fees.

Although he still has the right to appeal this decision, the writer can also wait patiently until January 1, 2044, the date when Tolkien’s work will enter the public domain in the United States.

The first season of The Lord of the Rings is now available exclusively on Prime Video.

Discover the list of series currently available on the platform!