"Sherlock Holmes" has passed into the public domain

After more than 125 years after the publication of the first stories about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, these works have now moved into the public domain in the United States. Now anyone can freely make films about Sherlock without paying royalties to the heirs of Arthur Conan Doyle. You can freely publish the book and how you want to use images of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and the other characters.

50 original Sherlock Holmes stories published from 1887 to 1923, were under the protection of copyright due to the nature of the American copyright law - due to the fact that in subsequent years, these stories go further, so that the images of the characters supposedly "supplemented" up Prior to the latest story in 1927. Now judge for the Northern District of Illinois Ruben Castillo (Ruben Castillo) put an end to this issue and освободил these works .



Copyright now applies only to the 10 stories that were published after January 1, 1923, at the images and stories that first appeared there, such as the second wife of Dr. Watson or a game of rugby team Blackheath. The remaining 50 stories published before January 1, 1923, is now "open and free for public use," including images of Holmes, Watson, Professor Moriarty and address of 221B Baker Street.

Fans celebrate the victory of the famous detective Online «Freedom Sherlock!» . "Sherlock Holmes belongs to the world, - says Leslie Klinger writer (Leslie S. Klinger) who filed the lawsuit. - The court's decision clearly indicates that. " Even if the famous hero dressed in modern clothes (as in the TV series "Sherlock" on the BBC or "elementary" on CBS-TV), completely rework the image, as in the film "Sherlock Holmes" studio Warner Bros., or create a completely new stories inspired the image of the great detective (eg, series "House"). In any case, you can now create new works without the threat posed by the heirs of Arthur Conan Doyle - namely, the organization Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. , which represents their interests and is closely monitoring the collection of royalties worldwide. For example, the same writer Leslie Klinger paid $ 5,000 for the publication of a collection of short stories on the theme of Sherlock Holmes, for example, about the adventures of Mary Russell, his mythical wife. During the shooting of the above film studio also paid royalties Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.

Recently characters Conan Doyle became very popular, judging by the number of new films and TV series about them. Perhaps now works about Holmes and Watson will be even more.

Source: habrahabr.ru/post/207720/