Disney was never going to get the rights, end of story. Tolkien despised him and his work. And now that this thread has fallen into something of a humorous pattern, I feel it's appropriate to go slightly off topic.
Infinitely more interesting than a Disney version of LOTR is the fact that for some time, the Beatles were looking at doing their own version as United Artists had received the rights. Paul was after the Frodo role and John was interested in Gollum. There was some sort of (terrible) internet fanfic about it some years ago but it strikes me as odd that afaik no one on here has ever attempted a TL on this.
Don't believe me? Google it immediately.
Also, the Rolling Stones were going to attempt A Clockwork Orange for some time...
(As an added but related aside, the Beatles were asked to portray the vultures in The Jungle Book. They were later voiced over as parodies.
And lastly, Joe Orton had written a sexy and out of character script called "Up Against It" to star the Beatles after "A Talent For Loving" by Richard Condon, and Dick Lester's Three Musketeers fell through. There were many alternate Beatle films during the sixties, but none perhaps more tantalizing than LotR, IMHO...)
I think the Beatles LOTR idea came about in 1968-1969, and considering the fact that John Lennon, who was most interested in the project, left the group in September 1969, there was no way that was actually going to happen. Anyway, in all previous discussions I have participated about this topic, the general consensus is that the film would be terrible. I'm one of the bigger Beatles fans on the forum, but I'm willing to admit that a Beatles version of Lord of the Rings would not be a good film.