Unless you’re very new to Tolkien fandom, you know that the rights to The Professor’s creations are shared by various groups, making for sometimes complicated copyright ownership. Tolkien himself sold movie and merchandising rights to United Artists back in 1969; those rights are now owned by Middle-earth Enterprises, which is part of the Embracer Group – now known as Fellowship Entertainment. Rights to television adaptations of eight episodes or more remain with the Tolkien Estate – so Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is licensed directly by the Estate. Furthermore, the rights Tolkien sold were only for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; so all other literary works by The Professor (including The Silmarillion) remain with the Estate.
Today Curtis Brown Heritage announced that The Tolkien Estate has joined the roster of writers and estates they represent. Curtis Brown are literary agents with a long history, and their ‘Heritage’ department represents literary estates including those of A.A. Milne, Iain Banks, and Douglas Adams. Their press release shared their delight in ‘working with the Tolkien Estate to preserve and celebrate J.R.R. Tolkien’s extraordinary literary legacy’. Here below is the full press release:
Curtis Brown Heritage to represent the J.R.R. Tolkien Estate
Curtis Brown Heritage is delighted to welcome the Tolkien Estate to their list of the literary estates of many of the twentieth century’s most renowned writers.
A writer, artist, scholar and philologist, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) is best known for his tales set in the world of Middle-earth, widely considered foundational to the modern fantasy genre. Beloved by readers, writers and creators across the world, in almost every language, through literature and artworks, J.R.R. Tolkien set the standard for all that has come after.
Norah Perkins, Head of Curtis Brown Heritage, said, ‘It is a great honour and a joy to be working with the Tolkien Estate to preserve and celebrate J.R.R. Tolkien’s extraordinary literary legacy, and to help to bring new readers (and viewers and listeners) to his writing. I am thrilled to be joining the Estate on the next part of the journey.’
The Tolkien Estate said, ‘As a family, we remain deeply conscious of the responsibility of looking after J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary works and legacy. We are committed to keeping his stories alive for generations to come. In Curtis Brown Heritage we have found partners who share that passion, and we are delighted to be working with them.’
Jonny Geller, CEO of The Curtis Brown Group, said: ‘I’m delighted on behalf of Curtis Brown to welcome one of the great literary estates of the world to the agency. All of us who grew up passionate about reading have been influenced and dazzled by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and we are committed to help to bring a new generation of readers to the enduring pleasure of these great books.’
About J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien was born in the Orange Free State (now in South Africa) in 1892. He came to England aged three, and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915, and saw active service in France during the First World War. After the war he worked on the Oxford English Dictionary as a lexicographer, and pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional life as an academic at the University of Oxford, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a ‘Legendarium’, from which emerged The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings (1954/55) and The Silmarillion (published posthumously in 1977 by Christopher Tolkien). He was a member of the Inklings along with C.S. Lewis, and he wrote and illustrated children’s stories for his family such as Letters from Father Christmas, Mr Bliss and Roverandom, as well as fairy tales for adults, including Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major.
About The Tolkien Estate
The Tolkien Estate (comprising The Tolkien Estate Limited and The Tolkien Trust) is the custodian of the works and legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien published in his lifetime, and the joint custodian with the Christopher Tolkien Estate of the works published after J.R.R. Tolkien’s death in 1973. Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s third son, was his father’s literary executor from 1973 until 2017, and produced twenty-four books of his father’s unpublished manuscripts, which significantly extend the accessible Tolkien canon. The Tolkien Estate remains managed directly by the descendants and family of J.R.R. Tolkien.
The Tolkien Trust is a UK registered charity established in 1977 by J.R.R. Tolkien’s children to enable the Tolkien family to give to charitable causes on a regular basis. Through the Trust, the Tolkien family continues to support a wide spectrum of causes and concerns in the UK and around the world.
About Curtis Brown Heritage
Curtis Brown Heritage was launched in 2016 and is the first bespoke literary estates division of a literary agency in the world. Built on Curtis Brown’s 125-year history, Heritage has a track record of success in creatively and sensitively managing the literary estates of beloved British writers (including those of Douglas Adams, Iain Banks, Gerald Durrell, Laurie Lee, Fay Weldon, A.A. Milne and Barbara Taylor Bradford) and some of the finest historians, poets and philosophers of the 20th century (including Isaiah Berlin, E. H. Carr, Nevill Coghill, C.L.R. James, Iris Murdoch and Stephen Spender). We recognise the immense cultural, literary and historical value of our writers, and it is our mission to combine our strong heritage with commercial savvy and passionate advocacy to celebrate, nurture and preserve their work for generations to come.
About The Curtis Brown Group
Founded in 1899 by Albert Curtis Brown, the company has a long and distinguished history as a world-renowned literary agency representing many famous writers, including Daphne du Maurier, John le Carré and A. A. Milne. Today, Curtis Brown also houses many other industry-leading divisions including a global
Talent agency, representing leading actors and performers, as well as Unscripted and Entertainment and Musical Theatre & Production Arts. CBG is also home to a prestigious Theatre, Film and Television department (representing leading screenwriters, directors, producers, playwrights, and writer-performers) as well as a Media Rights department. The Curtis Brown Group is now home to over 250 members of staff and a vibrant ecosystem of companies that span the arts and culture sector. The Curtis Brown Group includes boutique literary agencies C&W (formerly Conville & Walsh) and Ed Victor Ltd, our in-house writing school Curtis Brown Creative, talent agencies Tavistock Wood and Markham Froggatt & Irwin and production company Cuba Pictures. In June 2022, United Talent Agency acquired The Curtis Brown Group.
