In a legal battle that pitted an author against entertainment giants Amazon and the Tolkien Estate, Demetrious Polychron, a Lord of the Rings fan fiction writer, has ultimately suffered a defeat. The lawsuit, which claimed that the spin-off show The Rings of Power infringed on Polychron's copyrighted novel The Fellowship of the King, was recently dismissed by a California judge.

According to Variety, Amazon and the Tolkien Estate emerged victorious in the case after Polychron filed a $250 million lawsuit against them in April 2023. However, instead of simply defending their own rights, the Tolkien Estate also countersued the author, accusing him of infringing on their copyright.

The U.S. district judge ruled in favor of the Tolkien Estate, granting them a permanent injunction against Polychron. This injunction prohibits him from engaging in any activities related to "copying, distributing, selling, performing, displaying, or otherwise exploiting" The Fellowship of the King or its sequel, The Two Trees.

Furthermore, Polychron is now required to destroy all physical and electronic copies of his seven-novel saga. As part of the judgment, he must also pay $134,637 in fees to both Amazon and the Tolkien Estate. Judge Steven V. Wilson deemed Polychron's lawsuit as "unreasonable" and "frivolous from the beginning."

A lawyer representing the Tolkien Estate expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating that it is a substantial win against unauthorized authors and publishers seeking to monetize J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved works. The Estate hopes that the permanent injunction and the awarding of attorneys' fees will act as a deterrent to others considering similar actions.

The original lawsuit highlighted Polychron's claims of attempting to work professionally with the Tolkien Estate. He filed a trademark for The Fellowship of the King and sent a letter to Simon Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson and the director of the Tolkien Estate, describing his book and requesting a review of his manuscript.

Despite Polychron's attempts at collaboration, the lawsuit alleged that the Tolkien Estate rebuffed his efforts. Determined to publish his work independently, Polychron personally delivered a copyrighted copy of The Fellowship of the King to Simon Tolkien's home and later informed him in a letter of his intention to publish both the first book and a subsequent six-book series.

One of the points of contention raised by Polychron was the similarity between one of his characters, Elanor, and a character of the same name in The Rings of Power. Notably, Elanor is also the name of one of J.R.R. Tolkien's characters, one of Sam's daughters.

The Rings of Power, a Lord of the Rings prequel, received positive acclaim, earning an 8/10 rating in IGN's review of season 1. IGN praised Prime Video's adaptation for successfully capturing the epic scope and beauty of Tolkien's work.