Who would have thought that licensing a beloved a novel and film series for use in an online slots game would be illegal? Certainly not us.
Today, plenty of online slots games are based on popular movies, comic books and television shows, so it definitely came as a surprise when news that J.R.R Tolkien’s estate and his publisher Harper Collins are suing Warner Bros. for licensing the Lord of the Rings brand to online gaming developers.
Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular literary series to ever be created, spawning a wide range of pop culture spin offs. While the movie series is the most well-known of these, there have been several video game releases known only in niche markets. These include the Lord of the Rings online slots, designed by Microgaming.
Harper Collins and the Tolkien estate are suing Warner Bros. for $80 million, seeking royalties from the digital games that have been created based on the Lord of the Rings brand. According to the publisher’s agreement with Warner Bros., the brand can only be licensed for use with ‘tangible merchandise’.
It does not cover gaming and other digital rights; so, Warner Bros. granted Microgaming and other gaming companies the right to create games without the proper permission.
Microgaming released Lord of the Rings online slots in 2010, after months of publicizing the title. Within days, the game became a huge hit in the online casino world, emerging as one of Microgaming’s most popular online slots titles ever. Lord of the Rings online slots proved so popular that it was re-released as a progressive slots game and several sequels were planned.
Unfortunately for Microgaming, the lawsuit may mean that these plans may never come to fruition. It is likely that casinos which currently feature Lord of the Rings online slots will have to discontinue the title for the time being – at least until an agreement is settled upon between Warner Bros and Harper Collins.
On the bright side, Microgaming is likely to escape the situation without implication. Since Warner Bros. was wrong to sell the Lord of the Rings’ rights to digital gaming companies, the developers that created games are unlikely to face any charges. After all, Microgaming does not seem to be at fault, as the company was unlikely to be aware of the merchandising agreement that Warner Bros. has with the Tolkien estate.
So, Microgaming will have to move on to the next big pop culture trend for its next branded online slots game. What do you think it will be? Star Wars? Twilight? 50 Shades of Grey?
