I am not a defender of Peter Jackson, but the difference is that New Line really owns the movies. For SW, Lucas owns everthing, and only distributes through Fox. We don't know if New Line is the one who is really behind the cash cow of LOTR, but I am sure that Jackson has something to do with it.
In the end, atleast LOTR fans can any version in great quality on DVD, O-OT fans have to watch them as bonus material.