Somehting I originally said ended up in the Daily Mail.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

So, I have this rant about slacktivism on Facebook, and then email a local reporter about a tiny news story about a local pub I drink in, called the Hobbit, is being forced to re-brand by the copyright holders. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9585643.Southampton_pub_The_Hobbit_in_battle_with_Hollywood/r/?ref=rss is the original story. I am quoted, with attribution. I started the ball rolling with contacting the press on the group rather than people just using twitter, and some other people really got into it

Anyway godamned thing went NATIONAL. no, not Viral, actual real national news. and the line about "hobbits vs orcs" ends up, without my left wing quote, or attribution, in the Daily Fucking Mail. it's also in the MSN news for New Zealand, The Scotish Daily Record and the Sun.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2114365/The-battle-Middle-Earth-Enterprises--British-pub-called-The-Hobbit-20-years-sued-Hollywood-giant-use-name.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

anyway my next step is to try make sure that the place does not go bankrupt, and do some kind of fundraising, and then pimping the fundraising all up in the press. I fear, however, that the other people involved are too hell bent on saving the actual name, rather than the pub itself.

[Don Coyote]

Very nice. I hope the pub doesn't go under.

[Phox]

That's awesome, Pix, but do the people threatening legal action have an actual leg to stand on? That sounds like an awesome pub, and I'm really hoping that they can continue being awesome.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Pix, you are truly a force to be reckoned with!

[Junkenstein]

Good start, sounds like the guy pushing the litigation has previous form. Looking into how those went would probably be the best place to start. It seems you're not the only ones affected, more victims of circumstance due to the legalities surrounding the film. Or not, as clearly this establishment has cost him untold riches. You are in the mail, so we do have to assume you're some sort of undesirable type.

Classic mail line for me was

Staff and customers at the pub - many of them huge Tolkien fans - have reacted with anger to the letter, describing it as 'like hobbits versus orcs' - a famous scene from the Lords of The Rings trilogy

Ah yes. That scene. With The hobbit and orcs. Unforgettable.

If it's your quote and you strike lucky on a slow news day, you may be able to get more out of it. Or be vilified.
Worth a call either way I'd say.

[Telarus]

Nice one Pix.


There was a pub in Kona, Hawaii that was called Tom Bombadils (and had a menu based on the books). They had to re-brand/sell in part due to legal pressure in the 90s.


ON THE OTHER HAND...


The word Hobbit goes way, way, way back in english folklore, far before Tolkien used it for his "halflings".

Hobbit is short for Hobgoblin (no not the marvel character), as the root 'hob-' mean "good, shining, bright", and the HobGoblins/Hobbits were the "house fairies" which you would leave milks and scraps of food out for in exchange for household chores like repairing your shoes or taking the laundry in.

I really don't see the legal case here as having a leg to stand on. It's not like Tolkien made the term up, like he did the character names. The only other approach the offensive legal team would have would be "dilution of 'trademark' "... but as has been ruled many times before, if the Name is used for a completely different type of product/service (a book/movie versus a drinking establishment) then the court will assume that a competent consumer can tell the fucking difference (at least here in the US, that has been the precedent).

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

Holy fuckballs.  I may have gone and fucked my original objective. The story broke to the National broadsheets today. It's in the Telegraph AND the Guardian, (I got quoted in full on another page, again.)

Stephen Fry got hold of it, and made a supportive statement on Twitter. The man is a bit of a Twitter god, and stuff he says about issues gets press.

It's broken in Australia, the New York Daily has apparently picked it up, it peaked at number 3 on the most read on the BBC homepage and the slacktivists are out in force. The hobbit is trending on Twitter in the UK trends,, the facebook page gained over 10,000 likes whilst i was out at my D&D game, Anonymous tweeted #savethehobbit. The social networking side of this has become INSANE! The twitter and facebook page has become 3 tweets a minute, and the most recent posts on the facebook "like" page and people who want to offer constructive help seemed to be drowned out by the well meaning but outraged masses, and the admin of the facebook group, (which seems to be the nexus of it) seems to have been caught up in the sheer scale of how much it has blown up. I might ask nicely that she makes me an admin, just for the purposes of doing some fundrasing/volunteering any extra help the pub may need to stay open.... but the row has become about the name.  And stuffed full to the brim with slacktivism.

Oy vey.

[Don Coyote]

Ugh. Fucking slacktivists. I'm sorry Pix.



Would it make you feel better if I hit the like button?

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

Ugh. Fucking slacktivists. I'm sorry Pix.



Would it make you feel better if I hit the like button?

Well I am going to ring the landlady on the weekend about the possibility of trying to turn all the attention towards fundraising, and seeing where that goes. I just want everyone who clicks like who can do it without going without food to pony up a nominal amount (£5 was my original suggestion) so click "like" if your willing to put your money where your mouth is.

[Mangrove]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/now--gandalf--gives-his-backing-to-the-hobbit-threatened-with-legal-action.html

[Rumckle]

It seems that McKellan and Fry are going to pay the licence now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-17433036

[Cain]

I wondered about that.  Between the two of them, they're certainly rich enough to be able to, and the campaign did seem to mean a lot to them.  Proof of that would be doing what they just did.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Chances are they don't actually give a fuck about the pub using the name. These things are usually just part of the marketing machine rolling into gear but the downside is they do have the money to see it through if you want to call their bluff. 

[Reginald Ret]

This is one of the many reasons why i hate the current version of copyright protection.

If they manage to save the pub by paying the licensing etc. that is really great, but it leaves the perpetrators unscathed.

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

do the people threatening legal action have an actual leg to stand on?

I don't think you can trademark a term like 'hobbit' (especially given the history Telarus mentioned, but it wouldn't be eligible for trademark anyhow), and you can't legitimately make a copyright claim over the content of a name.

That said, it doesn't matter anyhow: the name of the game for IP suits is to keep the lawsuits coming until the other side either settles or runs out of money. Countersuits don't help, and neither does questionable legitimacy (though the more legitimate a claim seems the less likely it is to be quickly dismissed as bullshit by a judge).

Paying the license is giving in, but the only alternative is to force the IP holders to spend more in court fees than they consider the issue to be worth. (Sometimes supplemental PR damages help, but only if the people making the decisions realize that they are losing money by doing this -- and many people in positions of corporate power are dumb but aggressive rather than sensible and tactically competent, because they got into their positions by taking dumb risks and being very lucky).