thedoor Less than two weeks after its unveiling, the Middle-earth theme-park mooted for the Spanish province of Rincon de la Victoria is running into copyright concerns. Both Warner Bros. and Tolkien Estate are reported to be casting a close eye over the La Comarca (The Shire) project that was unveiled at the international tourism fair FITUR on February 1.

Rincon de la Victoria officials insist that they have their legal bases covered so that nothing will be considered a copy, and that the park would “not belong to any [single] author”. If that’s the case though, it’s starting to sound mroe like a generic fantasy theme-park and less like a Middle-earth one.


 


The theme park inspired by the universe and characters of JRR Tolkien set to be built in Rincon de la Victoria has met with difficulties regarding copyright issues.

North American company Warner Bros in Spain has been analysing the project, which is to be called La Comarca (The Shire), since it was unveiled at the international tourism fair FITUR, as there was direct mention of JRR Tolkien.

In addition, representatives from the council were accompanied during the presentation by an actor dressed up as Frodo, lead character in The Lord of The Rings’ films, and other characters, which significantly resembled those of the popular fantasy author.

At the council, representatives stated that the park would only be based on “the magic of fairy tales, fantasy, elves, which are universally known and do not belong to any author.”

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