Zaentz countersues the Estate

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by PrinceOfTheHalflings

Zaentz has owned the movie rights since c. 1976 - and certainly sued various people long before PJ's films were a twinkle in PJ's eye.

Yes, if you recall years ago Zaentz sued Gary Gygax and Dungeons & Dragons over its use of the word "hobbit". D&D had to change the name of the game characters to "halflings".

It's also notable that Zaentz's music company managed to purloin all the publishing rights of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Zaentz sued John Fogerty (the leader of CCR and writer of all its hit songs) when Fogerty released a solo album. Zaentz in effect sued Fogerty for plagiarizing himself, which led Fogerty to write a song with the lyrics "Zanz can't dance, but he can steal your money."

Naturally, Zaentz sued Fogerty again for defamation of character.