The Hobbit Pub in Southampton

[Andrew_uk]

I wondered if this might interest some fellow geeks...

This is a pub in southampton which I frequented regularly during my time at southampton university. The pub has a massive rivendell themed garden, lord of the rings themed cocktails, a massive saurons eye, awesome live music every night and is generally frequented by all of southamptons geeks (lord of the rings geeks and others). I don't consider myself a big lord of the rings fan but I do enjoy the films, the main point is I love this pub and the people who go there!

According to this facebook page there is a legal case now to force the hobbit to drop its name and theme

http://www.facebook.com/#!/SaveTheHobbitSouthampton

What do you all make of this? Should the pub be forced to change? Is the legal action correct/absurd/grey area?

For reference the pubs website is here http://www.hobbitpub.co.uk/about/

[The Silly Dragon]

If the company who has the copyrights to the LOTR franchise has a problem with it then its in their right (legally) to force them to change (as they are making money from their design basically). However i find it in bad taste for companies to do this as they are actually just enjoying what said company did with the LOTR.

I hope they don't change it though i have never been there (southampton isn't too far so maybe i will visit this pub as it sounds great!) and i hate to see big companies push around small businesses especially since pubs are struggling nowadays.

Edit: After reading through the article i fail to see why the company would have a problem with just the name. I think the term Hobbit may even be in the English dictionery (i know they added Muggle from the Harry Potter series).

[Greenman]

Clearly this director and his associated film company are from Narnia..

I drink there. Sometimes play open mics. just call in on me jones, of occasion, knowing there'll be friends already there, drinking and talking bollocks. i've fallen down a few times there. Courted my lady there. Been to a wake, seen untold bands, spread gossip, stormed out once or twice, basked in the reflected glory of many very interesting, talented and downright sexy people..

It's all there at the hobbit. A bit manky but an astonishingly cool pub. Also open til 3am.
Saul whatshisname - I've been told off for using the language, we'll just give him the monika, Tuesday.. anyway, he'd love the place. So much so, I'm convinced he'd see we're from his end of the street, cos there are a lot of folks who drink there, that love Tolkein.

In addition, he'd better not fuck up the film aswell, or I'll write a strongly worded letter.

[Greenman]

Meant to say, thanks and well done by the way, Andrew, for highlighting it.
You live in the states now?
Stephen Fry mentioned it on twitter and got it spot on, I think, about the corporate bully thing. It's a big deal, really, because the pub can't afford a court case even though they might have a legal right to use the word "hobbit".
One punter put up a reference on facebonk denoting earliest uses of the word and it appears in a 19th c. book on fairytales..
But what chance have you got vs schlick hollywood hotshot lawyers with perfect teeth?

[EricJ]

And people think IP laws are only a problem for music- and video freeloaders.

[Greenman]

We're in good company, it seems.
Neil Gaimon has offered his sword

[Aicanor]

This is indeed the dark age, the bloody age - the age of copyright. And now someone is going to suit me...

[Andrew_uk]

I still live in the UK but my parents moved to Lincolnshire so I'm now a long way from Southampton. It's nice to get down south once every couple of years or so though and would be nice to visit the Hobbit as and when I go. As I say it's an amazing pub with the biggest and coolest beer garden I've ever seen and all the coolest and most interesting of Southampton unis students... The boring plastic clones that are all fake all just go to Sobar, Jesters or the town centre instead. The Hobbit (and occasionally the Dungeon) is where the real magic is in Southampton.

It's nice to see that the facebook page is now at 48,519 so not far shy of the 50k mark. I guess thats a mark of how much of an impact it's really had on Southampton students. It's nice also to see the media really getting behind the story, it got a mention on the BBCs Watchdog program today and is in the news on the BBC website, Guardian, Daily Mail and others... here's the BBCs account http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-17390623

Also Stephen Fry has got behind the pub to lend his support which is great

If anyone is wonderring by the way I would say this is one of only a few pubs around I would happily recommend people to go well out of their way to visit at some point in their life, there aren't many pubs that tick all the boxes well enough to deserve travelling much distance to get to but this is certainly one of them!

[Allerion]

And people think IP laws are only a problem for music- and video freeloaders.

Its not freeloading if its not worth anything

[Greenman]

A wizard arrives precisely when he means to..
Mid summer he's promised, when back from western shores.
Popping in for a pint.
..won't need to bring dwarves, we have plenty grubby, hairy, midgets who like dark places.

Thats SIR Gandalf, if you dont mind.

[Tahl]

They have arranged for a special license to be bought, it will cost the pub a nominal £100.

Their argument was that if they let the pub off with it then it sets a precedent which can have legal effects on real copyright issues.

[Greenman]

The licence agreement is a satisfactory face-saving exercise, I believe.
It seems that the david/goliath roles were quite reversed when Punch Taverns got involved.

We can only thank Saul and associates for seeing reason and the efforts of all interested parties, including us punters and notable celebrities.
Thank you too, guys for taking the time to read about it.

What does it mean?
Our pub gets to keep it's individuality in a time when many of England's high streets conform to homogenous convenience.

We can also look forward to the film with an open mind.

..now, how do we persuade Pete Jackson's writers of the importance of Tom Bombadil to Northern European Folklore?

[Prince_Asuryan]

The charge is a fair sum I think, considering the potential legal ramifications.