Tolkien's works fell out of copyright in New Zealand beginning of this year

[Odola]

Does this mean that e.g. Tolkien fanfiction can be published commercially in New Zealand now?

Legal copyright expires for Lord of the Rings books but only in New Zealand, lawyer says

But Tolkien's world-famous work is still covered by copyright in other countries.

www.newshub.co.nz

In the UK, EU and US it the copyright takes 20 years longer, so it will expire beginning of 2044.

 

[David_M_R]

One would have to be very careful about not infringing trademarks, I'm not sure what the status is with those.

Also, you'd be limited to works published in Tolkien's lifetime, so I guess a lot of fanfic that draws on material from UT/HoMe/etc wouldn't be allowed (so, for instance, calling Sauron by the name Mairon would be disallowed, I would think). And as Donald Swann died much more recently, it's not clear whether material Tolkien wrote in The Road Goes Ever On is PD. On the other hand, let the Farmer Giles fanfic flow!