Tolkien Estate
From Tolkien Gateway
The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the copyrights of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. It mainly holds the copyright over the literary texts. Executors of the estate include Christopher Tolkien, his wife Baillie Tolkien, Christopher's nephew Michael George Tolkien and Priscilla Tolkien. Cathleen Blackburn of Manches & Co. has 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 Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly Tolkien Enterprises, a company controlled by Saul Zaentz until his death in 2014.
