Seriously, what the f*ck is wrong with The Asylum? It was just six months ago that the “studio” was getting sued for their BATTLESHIP rip-off AMERICAN BATTLESHIPS. Now, The Asylum is trying to capitalize on Peter Jackson’s THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY by releasing their timely film AGE OF THE HOBBITS.
According to THe Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros, MGM, and New Line Cinema along with producer Saul Zaetz are suing The Asylum for use of the word hobbit.
According to the lawsuit: “The Asylum has been and is promoting and advertising its low-budget film using the confusingly similar and misleading title Age of the Hobbits, in an intentional and willful attempt (i) to trade on the popularity and goodwill associated with the Tolkien novels, the extraordinarily successful Lord of The Rings film trilogy, and the famous HOBBIT mark, (ii) to free-ride on the worldwide advertising campaign in connection with the forthcoming Hobbit films, and (iii) to divert customers and potential customers away from the Hobbit films.”
The Asylum countered with this brilliant move: “Age of the Hobbits is about the real-life human subspecies, Homo Floresiensis, discovered in 2003 in Indonesia, which have been uniformly referred to as ‘Hobbits’ in the scientific community,” a rep for The Asylum told THR in a statement when the legal dispute first erupted. “As such, the use of the term ‘Hobbits’ is protected under the legal doctrines of nominal and traditional fair use. Indeed, a simple Google search of Hobbits and archaeology reveals dozens of articles containing the term “Hobbit(s)” in the title.”
Wow, that actually is a pretty well thought out rebuttal. Well played, Asylum. So, I decided to check out the trailer for AGE OF THE HOBBITS to see for myself. What the hell? Is that the dude from STARGATE: SG-1? And Bai Ling?
Plot: “In an ancient age, the small, peace-loving Hobbits are enslaved by the Java Men, a race of flesh-eating dragon-riders. The young Hobbit Goben must join forces with their neighbor giants, the humans, to free his people and vanquish their enemies.”
The Asylum are no fools. They know their film is a clear attempt to cash in on the popularity of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. If this was their first offense, then maybe their argument would have a chance. But, seeing as this is at the very least the third time they are being sued for the same thing, they are going to lose this battle. It also doesn’t help their movie looks like a honking pile of crap.
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