Sherlock Holmes finally declared in public domain

[Pingo]

http://freesherlock.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/klinger-order-on-motion-for-summary-judgment-c.pdf

 

Federal judge Rubén Castillo has Issued a declarative statement in a case against the Conan Doyle Estate, LTD., declaring that story elements predating January 1, 1923, are in the public domain.

 

I've only skimmed the document, and one still has to step carefully, but it looks like the more than a century old characters and stories are finally in the public domain, long, long past due.

[Darsc Zacal]

With the recent Sherlock Holmes movies and tv shows, I had thought it was already public domain.

 

Hard to believe anyone associated with the estate would've given approval to those Robert Downey jr movies.

[Last Knight]

Agreed with Darsc on the first part, seeing how the stories are all available for free as ebooks on the Kindle store I kinda thought they already were public domain.

[Pingo]

You would think so, but no. The Conan Doyle Estate has been insisting on licensing fees for all Holmes-related material since forever.

[MonkeySloth]

This may not change anything as congress has a treaty that makes us keep things out of public domain if its copyrighted elsewhere.

[MissMelons]

God, I'm a closet worshipper of Sherlock Holmes. And Benedict Cumberbatch made me fall in love with his rendition even more. Annnnd now I'm going to go read it again.

[Pingo]

Oh hey, I found out what happened.

 

In 1927 Arthur Conan Doyle published a book of his last, very late Sherlock Holmes stories. They thus postdated the 1923 date before which everything in the US is in the public domain.

 

Under the (US) Copyright Act of 1976, I guess copyrights could be applied for which were not previously protected. The Conan Doyle Estate registered that 1927 book in 1981. The copyright lasts 95 years after registering, so they own it until 2076.

 

Using that copyright, apparently they laid claim to every use of any Sherlock Holmes anything anywhere.

 

It's a pretty gross weasel, but apparently they got away for years with claiming 15% of all profits from any Sherlockiana and the power to shut down any Sherlock project which didn't pony up the cash.

 

It's a neat little scheme if you can get away with it.

 

Anyhow, an editor of some anthologies of new Holmes stories took the estate to court and won, at least for all pre-1923 material (but not cinematic and theatrical later accretions such as the pipe which was an affectation of a later actor and not part of the original stories).

[Dr.Bedlam]

Pingo's got it.

At first, they tried to go with the 2076 idea, then when that got shot down, they insisted that ALL things Sherlock were protected, because the LAST Sherlock story published is still covered under copyright. This means, based on the Doyle estate's reasoning, that ALL the characters, settings, and so forth are still under copyright... despite the fact that MOST Sherlock material IS actually public domain now.

Surprisingly, the judge just said, "Give it up, dudes. I hereby rule that the stories published after 1923 are still covered, but that all the stuff in the stories BEFORE that is public domain. Suck it up."

So now, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" can do all the Sherlock Holmes holodeck stories they want... but for some reason, I still have to pay a royalty if I want to write Tarzan stories...

[buglips*the*goblin]

To some extent, though, I can sympathize with the estates. As obtuse as copyright law may seem, especially with older stuff, we should remember that J.R.R. Tolkien got ripped off big time back in the day. Some of the more esoteric parts of what we live with today came out as a response to things like that - particularly as it pertains to the estate of a victim who is no longer around.

[Pingo]

To some extent, though, I can sympathize with the estates. As obtuse as copyright law may seem, especially with older stuff, we should remember that J.R.R. Tolkien got ripped off big time back in the day. Some of the more esoteric parts of what we live with today came out as a response to things like that - particularly as it pertains to the estate of a victim who is no longer around.

 

This is true, and good, strong copyright law is a great blessing to creators. I am old enough to remember the pirated editions of Lord of the Rings, and that was only a few years before the US copyright reforms of 1976, the first overhaul since 1909.

 

But however much copyright protects creators, I think the "protection from being ripped off and exploited" spirit of the laws was seriously violated by this example of a corporation registering a single volume by someone fifty years dead and using that as a lever to kill projects and extort money from anyone using much earlier works by that same creator, with the plan to keep financial control of all related works of that creator for (nearly) a hundred more years.

 

It's greedy, manipulative schemes like this that give copyright a bad name. I'm all for protection of creators' rights, and even protection for some time after the creators' deaths for the sake of their heirs. I'm not at all sure I like the "life plus 95 years" length of things, but I agree with the principle.

 

But this was pure weasel. Good for Judge Castillo.

[Darsc Zacal]

And let the Sherlock Holmes based kickstarters begin!

[ShadowRaven]

And let the Sherlock Holmes based kickstarters begin!

 

no, just no. some of them are going to have minis, really good minis, really nice minis. Damn Kickstarter, we had a deal, you weren't supposed to play my addiction for more money.

[Darsc Zacal]

Yo

 

And let the Sherlock Holmes based kickstarters begin!

 

no, just no. some of them are going to have minis, really good minis, really nice minis. Damn Kickstarter, we had a deal, you weren't supposed to play my addiction for more money.

You and me both.

 

*moves the Sherlock Holmes Snoopy and the Data Holmes and Geordie Watson to another shelf to make room for the incoming must haves*

[Thes Hunter]

And let the Sherlock Holmes based kickstarters begin!

Of Mary-Sue fiction 'creative projects'/Dino romance.

[Pingo]

 

And let the Sherlock Holmes based kickstarters begin!

 

no, just no. some of them are going to have minis, really good minis, really nice minis. Damn Kickstarter, we had a deal, you weren't supposed to play my addiction for more money.

Doesn't Reaper already have an S. H. mini? And Watson too, if memory serves.