The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the late J. R. R. Tolkien, including the copyright in his works. The individual copyrights have for the most part been assigned by the Estate to subsidiary entities such as the J.R.R. Tolkien Discretionary Settlement and the Tolkien [charitable] Trust. The various holdings of the Tolkien family, including the Estate, have been organized under The Tolkien Company, the directors of which are Christopher Tolkien, his wife Baillie Tolkien, and the Professor's grandson Michael George Tolkien. The executors of the Estate proper are Christopher Tolkien, who is sole literary executor, and (succeeding Professor Tolkien's lawyer Frank Williamson) Cathleen Blackburn of Manches & Co., who has also been the Estate's solicitor for many years.

The film and merchandise rights for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were sold by J.R.R. Tolkien, and are currently owned by Tolkien Enterprises, a company controlled by Saul Zaentz.

See also

• Estate (law)

External links

• The Official Website of the JRR Tolkien Estate
• Tolkien Trust v. New Line Cinema Corp.