[chc]

I don't understand your point. If you mean he could have made a LOTR movie, I still don't see how that's relevant, given that:

1. That wouldn't happen, for a large number of reasons.

2. That happens even in the current system (see "The Exorcist: The Beginning" for an example in the movie world).

3. Michael Bay already had movies in competition with the LOTR franchise — copyright does nothing to prevent that. It just requires that some people distantly related to people who paid some money to Tolkien get paid if you want to use the LOTR names and characters.