Disney World jewelry

I just returned from a business/pleasure visit to Orlando, which
included time at Disney. Could not believe some of the jewelry -
pearls glued together to form Mickey’s head with two small pearls
glued to each side of a larger pearl! They had necklaces, lariat
necklaces, bracelets, etc. Quite incredible! Prices up into the
low thousands, depending on the piece.

Just had to share this with you all - it was really quite amazing to
see all these pearl “Mickey’s”!! I still haven’t decided if they
are so tacky they are wonderful, or if they are just tacky!

I confess it had not occurred to me to “create” a cartoon character
from pearls!

Best wishes to all.
Beth in SC

Beth, I have not seen the specific pearl jewelry which you describe,
but a word of caution: Be VERY careful of making a recognizeable
representation of a ‘known’ cartoon character, ESPECIALLY anything by
Disney. Disney Studios, WED Enterprises, and various other corporate
names for Disney are NOTORIOUS for not having ANY sense of humor about
their copyright! ! ! (and it is true for most other Hollywood
corporations.)

Given the name of my business (which, by the way, LONG predates the
movies,) I have had a number of requests to make copies of the “One
Ring.”

My answer always is: ‘You should go on the World Wide Web and look
for it. There is a company which makes a copy in gold or silver, and
they are licensed by the motion picture company. They do a great job.
I cannot do it for you, because I don’t have the legal permission to
do so.’ I have no desire to get into a discussion with their lawyers.
David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings

  Given the name of my business (which, by the way, LONG predates
the movies,) I have had a number of requests to make copies of the
"One Ring."  My answer always is:  'You should go on the World Wide
Web and look for it.  There is a company which makes a copy in gold
or silver, and they are licensed by the motion picture company. 
They do a great job. I cannot do it for you, because I don't have
the legal permission to do so.' I have no desire to get into a
discussion with their lawyers. David Barzilay, Lord of the Rings 

Interestingly enough, I have been in discussion (via email) with the
lawyer for the Tolkien Estate, so I think I’ll share. ( FYI-J.R.R
Tolkien is the author of the Lord of the Rings)

I’ve been fascinated by all things elvish since high school and of
course this has reflected in my designs. I’ve created a few items for
friends using the Tengwar (the elvish alphabet found in the books and
on the “One Ring”) who were encouraging me to try marketing those
designs.

None of my designs could be found described in the books, they were
merely inspired by Middle Earth, but they feature my interpretation
of the letters of the Tengwar as I have hand lettered (and pierced)
them.

So after gauging general interest with a few piece for sale, I asked
the Tolkien estate how I could get permission to continue.

Tolkien’s estate was very clear that the Tengwar (and all the other
Middle Earth alphabets found in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) are
the artistic property of the Tolkien Estate and I did not have
permission to use them in any way. They also implied that they
wouldn’t be open to extending that permission either. I haven’t
negotiated further to try, I have lots of other ideas, too.

From everything I’ve read about the man (a lot, I’ll say), Tolkien
was very sensitive to his works being used in ways in which he might
not agree and set up his estate with his wishes in mind. Of course,
I’m disappointed I cannot take my elvish designs to the world, but I
must honor the wishes of Professor Tolkien. I will however continue
to enjoy his works (and the movies) The elvish gifts to my friends
will continue, but certainly I won’t be selling anything from “Lord
of the Rings”

However, I’ve found that Sanskrit is very similar to Elvish and I
don’t believe that Sanskrit is anyone’s artistic property. I
might use some of those designs after all.

Barb Baur

The One Ring

Given the name of my business (which, by the way, LONG predates
the movies,) I have had a number of requests to make copies of the
"One Ring."

The jeweller who made the original ring(s) - there were a number
identical rings - was Jens Hansen, a very prominent silversmith in
Nelson City, New Zealand. He died about 2 years ago and his son
now continues the business. I do believe he takes on a teaching
role at times. I have seen his work, and it is extremely well done;
he is certainly a master.

Cheers for now,
John Burgess; @John_Burgess2 of Mapua, Nelson NZ