J.R.R. Tolkien's books will not pass into the public domain for decades, and the movies will take even longer, but the studio's and publisher's assertion that they own the rights to the word 'Shire' ought not last much beyond next Tuesday. As the Register explains, "it would be impossible to argue with the legal letter's initial assertion: 'shire' is extremely well known in the UK. In fact, it has been well known since around 600AD - not long after the Romans had wandered off." Not to be missed, if you haven't seen it already, is a link to Groucho Marx's famous reply to Warner Brothers after the studio tried to block the release of A Night in Casablanca.
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