SEXPAND
Hear that sound? It's the squeal of
a million fan fiction writers freaking out at the prospect of finally getting
some respect. This week, a federal judge
ruled that the world's most famous (and possibly most adapted)
detective may enter the public domain.
Sherlock Holmes made his debut 126
years ago in A Study in Scarlet, first published in 1887. Since then
he's appeared in pretty much every medium and has been portrayed by everyone
from original deerstalker Basil Rathbone to Iron Man to Khan. But through all
that, people using Holmes and any number of other series tropes have had to pay
licensing fees to the Arthur Conan Doyle estate. Basically, this is big.
The lawsuit was brought by Leslie
S. King, who edited a 3,000-page annotated version of the Holmes stories and
several other works on the character, including a collection of Holmes stories
written by several different authors. Although Holmes should have already
entered the public domain, lawyers for the estate claimed that Holmes should
remain private for four more years, as his story was not truly complete until
the last tale was published in 1927.
It didn't fly. All Sherlock Holmes
stories and elements from works published before 1923—including Holmes, Dr.
John Watson, the dastardly Professor Moriarty, and even 221B Baker Street—now
belong to everyone. Use them wisely.
[image via AP]
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