The Copyright Mystery of Sherlock Holmes

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories at various times between 1887 and 1927. Leslie S. Klinger is a living expert on the mystery and thriller genres in literature, including the Canon of Sherlock Holmes. The Canon “refers to the four (4) novels and fifty-six (56) stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes and other related characters and story elements,” according to a declaratory judgment lawsuit recently filed in federal court concerning the copyright status of the works.

Klinger believes that the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. is wrongfully claiming copyright ownership in the certain aspects of the Canon of Sherlock Holmes. Klinger was on the receiving end of an attempt at copyright enforcement by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Estate. Klinger was co-editing a collection of stories inspired by the Sherlock Holmes canon and feature characters and other elements from the Holmes stories. The Doyle Estate contacted the publisher demanding payment of a license fee, and claiming that the character is still protected under copyright until 2023, and asserting that if the book was published without payment of the license fees, it would block distribution of the book through many major distributors. The publisher subsequently dropped the book from publication. Klinger then filed a declaratory judgment action in federal court. The action seeks a judicial determination that the copyright for the works in question have expired in the United States and thus are in the public domain. The suit also requests that the court enjoin the Doyle Estate from further asserting rights in the works at issue.

Copyright in the United States confers exclusive rights to the copyright holder for a limited period of time. While that period of time lasts for quite a long time (for works created after January 1, 1978, life of the author plus 70 years), the work will eventually be released into the public domain. But for works published prior to January 1, 1978, there are different standards. For works published between 1923 and 1977 that were published with proper notice and renewed properly, they may be protected still depending on the year of publication. And for works published before 1923, as many of the Sherlock Holmes stories were, copyright has already expired and they are in the public domain.

Once the copyright term was expired, works automatically enter the public domain, meaning that anyone is able to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works based upon the work.

These different standards can be the source of much confusion. However, many content owners resist this notion and maintain that certain works or characters are still protected under copyright law.

For more information:

Mike Masnick, “Arthur Conan Doyle Estate Sued to Show that Sherlock Holmes Is Public Domain,” http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130215/15093722002/arthur-conan-doyle-estate-sued-to-show-that-sherlock-holmes-is-public-domain.shtml (Feb. 15, 2013).

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2013/02/suit-over-sherlock-holmes-copyright.html

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/scholar-sues-arthur-conan-doyle-estate-over-sherlock-holmes-copyright_b65550

http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

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