One The Lord of the Rings fanfiction writer is suing both Amazon and The Tolkien Estate for $250 million, claiming that they stole his ideas for The Rings of Power.

The Rings of Power was undeniably one of the biggest TV shows of 2022, even if it did slightly lose out on ratings to rival fantasy series House of the Dragon. Filming on the second season is currently underway. For a show with only one season to its name though, The Rings of Power has stirred up a fair bit of controversy. It was previously attacked for its “lazy” and “offensive” accents and in recent weeks, PETA called on the show to stop using real animals after a horse died on set. This latest fanfiction debacle can now be added to the list.

As reported by PC Gamer, one author is suing both Amazon and The Tolkien Estate, claiming copyright infringement in The Rings of Power. The series is based on the appendices of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The Los Angeles based author, known only as Demetrios Polychron, claims they actually stole his fanfiction ideas instead. Polychron previously published a work of fanfiction titled The Fellowship of the King.

The Fellowship of the King was registered with the US copyright office back in 2017. The author then sent the book to The Tolkien Estate requesting a review of his manuscript but got no response. In 2019, Polychron hired an attorney to contact the group again “with excitement to collaborate with the defendants and the anticipation of publishing his book to the public”. He then hand delivered a copy to Simon Tolkien’s home, which is a bit creepy.

The radio silence continued. Polychron then announced that he’d publish The Fellowship of the King as part of a six-book series. The first instalment was then published, true to his word, in 2022 when The Rings of Power premiered on Amazon Prime Video. It just so happens that both projects contain a character called Elanor, although in Polychron’s book, this is Elanor Gamgee Gardner, a character from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy rather than an original creation. Polychron is, rather optimistically, hoping for $250 million. I shouldn’t imagine Amazon nor The Tolkien Estate have much to worry about.