Its why the Lost Loiners kept getting threats from Leeds Rhinos.

Until it was pointed out that the Rhinos didn't own the copyright to the crest of the City of Leeds badge, nor the colour scheme or design of their own shirts

Because I doubt Dairy Queen owns the rights to the word "Queen" or a title as such.

If she started selling ice cream from her carriage, painted a big red and white DQ logo on the side and asked everyone to call her Dairy Queen then they probably would try and sue her. Or like here, send a letter asking her to refrain from such things.

A lot of the issue is down to precedent, as stated in that article. If you let one corner shop/pub use copyrighted images etc, its hard to complain if someone else does it. Sounds to me that both sides are happy - the copyright owners have an admission in writing that copyright was breached, and the pub gets to carry on. Also good to see that the copyright owners treat existing business differently.

I suspect some of the arguments on here are because a shedload of people quite happily rip off entertainment via the web, regardless of copyright or anything else. I see it as quite clearly a case of a small business trying to cash in on someone else's product and hoping to get away with it. I don't understand the gushing sympathy at all.

You mean Zaentz cashing in on Tolkien's work?

Good luck suing the Queen. As our monarch, she is above the law, and cannot be sued, tried or arrested.

A straight beheading will have to suffice, then.

I'm always amazed when people complain that the LoTR films are long and filled with inconsequential sequences, confusing plots and poor characterisation. Have they never read the books? Even as someone who loves most of the books, I'll accept that as a criticism of the books too.

Good result for the pub, honour is upheld and common sense prevailed.

But the pub's been open 20 years! that's decades before the "product"!

As for "hobbit" - that is a word in common currency and I'd say part of the language now. I don't think anyone has or could have any copyright on the word. If I were being sued i would say that, of course, there used to be (and probably, somewhere, still are) creatures called hobbits, all Tolkien did was became the first to write about them. However his books do make it crystal clear that he was describing a real race of beings, not making it up.

He may of course have been lying, but prove it. I believe in hobbits and will use the word as much as I want, like "humans", or "neanderthals", or "gorillas".

How exactly were they cashing in on a non-existent film franchise 20 years ago?

Have you seen the artwork in question? It bears zero resemblance to anything from the movies.

The artwork in the pub, on the pubs website, on offers and drinks etc are taken directly from the recent films, which I would imagine is more the issue than simply the name of the pub. Like I said earlier, of it was a regular pub called The Hobbitt I don't think there would ever have been an issue. But because the pub started using artwork/names etc from the films to make money then it quite rightly in my view, becomes an issue.