Jeff Bezos and J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate face $250 million lawsuit over Lord of the Rings series

Amazon Studios' larger than life prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is being sued by writer Demetrious Polychron, according to court paperwork seen by RadarOnline.com.

Polychron is suing Jeff Bezos, J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate and executives at Amazon (Prime Video) for what he deems to be a copy of his original book The Fellowship of the King.

The Amazon Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is a prequel series that features the iconic rings of the series before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The show was released in 2022.

The lawsuit is $250 million dollars in charges against the defendant.

Polychron claims the mythological series copied elements from his published book The Fellowship of the King, which was inspired by The Lord of the Rings. The writer also had developed an entire series around this book called The War of the Rings, encompassing seven books.

Despite J.R.R.'s works heavily inspiring the author, he received a copyright for the book in 2017.

🚨Jeff Bezos & J. R. R. Tolkien’s Estate Hit With $250 Million Lawsuit Over Amazon’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series.

According to court documents obtained by https://t.co/Gzqzuo2fyh, a writer named Demetrious Polychron filed a $250 million lawsuit against Bezos, several Amazon… pic.twitter.com/UO27AMY666

— Fellowship of Fans (@FellowshipFans) April 18, 2023

Polychron encouraged J.R.R. to examine his fanfiction by sending a letter with his love for The Lord of the Rings series to the author’s grandson. Polychron received no response, however.

The writer then took the matter even further by hiring a lawyer to reach out to Tolkein’s estate, but they responded without agreeing to cooperate.

When J.R.R. signed the deal with Amazon for $250 million to pursue the series, this was right after Polychron dropped off his original book at the Tolkein's estate. Polychron claims to have dropped off the book in 2019 at J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandson's house, but he never received a response.

Polychron claims the Amazon production “copied largely from” his book.

The suit states, “These wholly original distinct and separate characters and storylines compose as much as one-half of the 8-episode series as released and published by Defendants. In many cases, Defendants copied exact language” from The Fellowship of the King.

Cover for 'The Fellowship of the King' by Demetrious Polychron.

The suit also claims that the show copied images from his book whether they were from the cover or match the “descriptions as created in the book as authored by Polychron.”

The suit is asking for $250 million in damages for the copyright infringement while the series cost Amazon $1 billion to produce.