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AlatarielNoldo
Bree
Jun 26 2014, 11:35am
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All pages on Tolkien's scripts removed from Dan Smith's website
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Been away for a while but woke up this morning to an email from the Elfscript2 group that Dan Smith has removed all pages and font files regarding Tolkien's tengwar and cirth. He's put up a message saying that they have been removed as requested by the Tolkien Estate. It's odd because the Estate apparently gave him permission years ago to have the pages and font files up.
I notice that some other sites about Tolkien's scripts are still active but it has me worried that we may see them disappear as well.
Just wondering if anyone else has heard anything regarding this.
But in Lindon Gil-Galad still maintained his power, and Sauron dared not as yet to pass the Mountains of Ered Luin nor to assail the Havens.
[The Silmarillion: Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age]
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Magpie
Immortal
Jun 26 2014, 2:26pm
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fonts are a hard thing to regulate
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Once one person has them, then pretty much everyone has them - or has the ability to have them. They are easy to share and lots of font sites are not much concerned with 'legalities'. A font named, "Tolkien Party Hand" will be easy for the Tolkien Estate to find but all someone has to do is name it more cleverly and it will be the same font but more difficult for the Tolkien Estate to challenge.
If I were concerned, I'd start downloading all the fonts I could find asap that link themselves to Tolkien.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
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Cillendor
Lorien
Jun 27 2014, 5:00am
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Dan Smith made some amazing contributions to Tengwar fonts,
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but I highly recommend checking out Johan Winge's Tengwar Telcontar. It is the most versatile Tengwar font in existence. I am hoping that he'll release a new version sometime that fixes a few minor bugs, but it is the easiest Tengwar font to use and looks gorgeous.
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AlatarielNoldo
Bree
Jun 27 2014, 11:11am
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I primarily use Tengwar Annatar but ...
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will have to check out Tengwar Telcontar. I like the Annatar font because when italicized it closely resembles the ring script. I have had most of the basic fonts downloaded for years, and sort of recently added the sarati fonts to my collection when I decided to start learning that system.
I'm hoping the fact that Dan had to remove his fonts and pages related to Tolkien's fonts doesn't mean that we will see other resources being forced to remove their content as well. There are some really great websites out there set up to help people learn how to use the tengwar and it would be a shame to see them go.
But in Lindon Gil-Galad still maintained his power, and Sauron dared not as yet to pass the Mountains of Ered Luin nor to assail the Havens.
[The Silmarillion: Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age]
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jun 28 2014, 12:06pm
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I have so much fun on his site.
The Estate... in my mind... is incredibly territorial when it doesn't need to be. How many years has Dan's site expanded the love and world of Tolkien's influence? This is nasty. And don't flame me about rights and laws and all... this is my own personal reaction. I know about all the legal and grown-up reasons why they demand signs be removed from parks and restaurants, shirts and such. Truly I do. But things like this takes some of the fun out of it. It angers me in this case when he's been around for so many years and contributed so much.
Thank you, Dan Smith, for your wonderful site and giving me a wonderful, personal connection to Tolkien's world.
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observation List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observation List - May 15, 2014
"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West."
I'm SO HAPPY these new films take me back to that magical world!!
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Escapist
Gondor
Jun 28 2014, 12:12pm
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part of JRRT's popularity came from his success at devising a mythology that people could go viral with and use as inspiration.
If it becomes poisonous to inspiration and too controlled to constitute any kind of cultural currency without an equal or greater value of real currency flow, it will peter out. People who exchange such cultural currency will just adopt something else - and people who value their own creative process will draw that poison out so fast.
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Arannir
Valinor
Jun 28 2014, 1:38pm
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It reminds me of why it is good that rights expire seventy years after an author's death in the European Union (and elsewhere).
Dan Smith clearly is someone who contributed to Tolkien's legacy and did not take away from it. JRRT created a mythology... And people respond and use it as such. Taking down a website such as this won't change that. It surely takes away one of the high quality sources out there, though. What a pity.
"I am afraid it is only too likely to be true what you say about the critics and the public. I am dreading the publication for it will be impossible not to mind what is said. I have exposed my heart to be shot at." J.R.R. Tolkien
We all have our hearts and minds one way or another invested in these books and movies. So we all mind and should show the necessary respect.
(This post was edited by Arannir on Jun 28 2014, 1:39pm)
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IdrilLalaith
Rivendell
Jul 2 2014, 1:05pm
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I would be interested to know the details of this situation
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It wouldn't surprise me in the least if there were inaccuracies in Dan Smith's work which caused the Tolkien Estate to take down the site. I could certainly see Tolkien himself requesting that.
I certainly agree with you that this is a pity. The only thing I can say in the Estate's defense is that (at least in America), it's necessary to defend rights consistently. In other words, if the Tolkien Estate blatantly ignored some instances of technical copyright infringement and then tried to stop a legitimate infringement, they would have a harder time in court. (Just imagine if The Asylum tried to create a Silmarillion movie. I'm going to have nightmares about that now.)
I don't know a ton about law, but I really think copyright law needs to be changed to accommodate the internet. I respect the rights of authors to defend their work, but the internet is a different beast.
TolkienBlog.com
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