A Manx law firm has been asked to help in a United States court case valued at $80 million, centred on image rights for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Litigation advocates Gough Law have obtained a Letter of Request from the Californian court hearing proceedings between film conglomerate United Artists and the Trustees of the Estate of the author of the book, JRR Tolkien.
The dispute is over what is termed intangible and tangible exploitation of the brand. The Trustees are pursuing a claimed breach of the terms of a contract for image usage rights agreed with United Artists, which dates back to 1969.
Proceedings relating to some of the evidence and documents have been held in the Isle of Man and Gough Law says it has now successfully obtained an Order in Litigation, allowing the documents to be used in the case.
Pictured: Charles Coleman, director at Gough Law.