A court in LA has barred the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien from seeking punitive damages from New Line Cinemas in their suit over Lord of the Rings. Keep in mind, punitive damages is when someone is ordered to pay money above and beyond what they actually owe as punishment for what they did and as a warning to others.  The estate still seeks compensatory damages in excess of $150 million.

Tolkien’s heirs claim New Line Cinema has failed to pay any royalties from the estimated $6 billion they say the movie has grossed worldwide.

The lawsuit claims New Line sent millions of dollars to Time Warner Inc.‘s AOL, improperly claiming they were for advertising expenses. The lawsuit also claims the studio built production offices and facilities in New Zealand and listed them as expenses for the “Lord of the Rings” films, although the heirs claim they are now being used for other New Line projects.

Besides damages, the lawsuit seeks a court order that would terminate New Line’s rights to make a two-film prequel based on “The Hobbit.”

Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct that film and its sequel in New Zealand alongside executive producer Peter Jackson. [Yahoo/AP]

Seeing as how Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson are both big fat guys with beards, I think their best strategy here would be to roll into court with a couple of big beer steins from which they could drink  while joining arm in arm to lead the crowd in a merry sing along.  No one could rule against a fat drunk Santa Claus singing a song.  No deal if they’re skinny now, that shit’s creepy.