Last year, JRR Tolkien’s published Harper Collins and his estate sued Warner Bros over the release of Microgaming’s Lord of the Rings online pokies game. The lawsuit resulted in the game being pulled from online casinos and prevented the film studio from licensing Tolkien’s brands for any other casino games. Now, Warner Bros is firing back, filing a countersuit against Harper Collins and the author’s estate.

The first lawsuit was filed when JRR Tolkien’s estate discovered Microgaming’s pokies game online. While Warner Bros has the right to license the brand out for commercial products, members of the estate felt that the studio had taken too many liberties by allowing Lord of the Rings to be an online pokies theme.

Warner Bros complied with the wishes of the estate and publisher, pulling the game from Microgaming online casinos – but the studio has refused to take things lying down. This month, Warner Bros filed a countersuit, claiming that the initial lawsuit lost the studio a great deal of potential revenue. Warner Bros’ legal team claims that licensing Tolkien’s series to gaming manufacturers is a valuable source of revenue.

Unable to license The Hobbit to any online gambling companies, Warner Bros felt as though it lost out. The film studio also believes that these types of games increase exposure for the movies, which would have been useful when marketing the recently released Hobbit film.

A quote from the filing reads: “Warner has not entered into license agreements for online games and casino slot machines in connection with 'The Hobbit'—a form of customary exploitation it previously had utilized in connection with the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy—which has harmed Warner both in the form of lost license revenue and also in decreased exposure for the 'Hobbit' films."

However, the estate is not worried about the countersuit, stating that it is simply a bullying tactic. Members of the estate call the case ‘patently absurd’, as they have done nothing wrong in the eyes of law. They believe that the case will be thrown out of court.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.