Knight, well
Gil did say Gil-galad was fighting
against Sauron, not that he fought Sauron...there's a difference.
Well,
Gil, I would call it GREED, but GREED upon the part of Newline not the actors. Corps do this quite a bit. If the actors claim is true than they were guaranteed a certain cut from the profit off merchandising (and if it is Newline using their faces to make 'money' off of, then I can't blame the actors) and it seems as if they were cheated from their proper cut.
It all depends upon the contracts though...as the World Poker Tour (WPT) is facing a lawsuit from several professional poker players saying pretty much the same thing as the actors of LOTR. The WPT is using their faces to make money and they want to see some of that money. The key difference is there is nothing in the pro poker players contracts that guarantees they get a cut of the profit...in fact it directly states that the WPT may use the pro players faces for merchandising all they want because in return the poker pros are getting their face on TV and taking a chance of winning millions. So, it was them who signed themselves over to the 'devil' so to speak. Where the LOTR contracts it seems like it specifically states these actors were guaranteed part of the profit and they never got their cut.