Hobbit pub copyright row: Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen to pay licence
Found on BBC News on Thursday, 22 March 2012
Stephen Fry has confirmed he and Sir Ian McKellen will pay a copyright licence fee so a Southampton pub can carry on trading as The Hobbit.
The pub was threatened with legal action by Hollywood film firm the Saul Zaentz Company (SZC) which accused it of copyright infringement.
Sir Ian, who plays Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings films, described the film company's actions as "unnecessary pettiness" and Fry said it was "self-defeating bullying".
Nice to see that at least some people still have common sense and are above the copyright swamp.