[Moriarty]

I want to publish a book called "The Sexual Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

It features Holmes (of course), Watson, Wiggins, Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, etc. involved in all kinds of shenanigans.

It's fun, funny, and very VERY sexy.

So how about it? Can I?

[Lady Halle]

Woah LOL! Never knew Moriarty was into that sort of thing.

I don't know if you know this or not but there is a book out there entitled the exact same thing. http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/1563330970 There's a thread on the book here - http://www.holmesian...?...ic=238&st=0

We've discussed the copyright issue before on Holmesian and I don't think we came to a definite conclusion. But there are so many published pastiches and such out there, if there is a copyright, there HAS to be a way to negotiate around it... I'm sure someone else who knows more about the subject can provide more details.

Hope that helps. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask. Let us know when your book is published!

[MAHibbard]

According to the Online Books Page (http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/), the Sherlock Holmes stories are in the Public Domain in the US.

From http://onlinebooks.l...edu/nonus.html:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Most of Conan Doyle's work is in the public domain in the US, including all of the other Sherlock Holmes books besides the one mentioned here, as well as the Professor Challenger stories "The Lost World" and "The Poison Belt".

There is also a section on that website titled: "How do I find out whether the book is in the public domain?" http://onlinebooks.l...oks.html#whatpd

It looks to be an in-depth explanation of how to determine if a book is in the public domain, and a lot of other information pertaining to copyright laws in different countries. I hope this helps!

[Limited-Fantasy]

I am almost certain that by now all of Holmes' stories are public domain, as I haven't heard Conan Doyle's estate complaining about copyright as of late. There are plenty of pastiches that are still being published to indicate that.

However, I recommend you speak with your publisher first.

[Moriarty]

If the character is copyrighted, I guess I can rename it Shercock Holmes or something, lol.

Thanks for the info, I'll be posting excerpts of my book soon.

Oh and I guess I need a new title since this one is taken!!

[7% Cocaine]

I have the same question.

I know that the books' copyrights are already expired. But how about the characters? I really wonder if Guy Ritche paid the Conan Doyle estate for using SH/JHW as main characters??

Last time Mr. Larry Albert talked about this problem a little bit. But I'm still confused. Wondering if BBC pays Conan Doyle estate committee for its numerous newly written SH shows??

[7% Cocaine]

Btw, I think we need a pro to answer this question, don't we?

[7% Cocaine]

Just found this and thought some of you might be interested:

http://www.sherlockh...state/index.htm

What a story.

[Clare Hart]

According to Sherlockian.Net:Copyright the copyright for the Casebook was extended to somewhere between 2016 and 2023. For some reason this copyright was extended in 1998. So any reference to the stories in the Casebook would have to be cleared with the administrator of the Estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle. They give the address.

Andrea Plunkett, Sheldon Reynolds exwife, has been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a trademark on the character of Sherlock Holmes. There are some interesting links about that too.

Sherlock Holmes has been pirated, parodied and pastiched since the 1890s. I have heard that the name makes publishers roll their eyes in horror because there continues to be contention about it.

[7% Cocaine]

According to Sherlockian.Net:Copyright the copyright for the Casebook was extended to somewhere between 2016 and 2023. For some reason this copyright was extended in 1998. So any reference to the stories in the Casebook would have to be cleared with the administrator of the Estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle. They give the address.

According to the link above, Princess Nina(Sir ACD's daughter-in-law) had bought out her two sisters-in-law (one of them being Dame Jean Conan Doyle)many years ago and she became the sole copyright holder of the stories and characters. Princess Nina's investment had proved to be very successful but she squandered all the money and finally had to go through receivership. The receiver was Lady Duncun, Andrea Plunkett's mother. So the SH copyright now belongs to Lady Duncun's offsprings.


Not sure if I got it right. Anyways, I don't think the current copyright holders, whoever they are, would give up any chance to benefit from new SH works, be it books or films. They have every right to make money. Understandable. But I'm curious why has Hollywood suddenly become so interested in SH movies. Does it have something to do with copyright issues?

[secret_memoir]

The copyright of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works and of the Sherlock Holmes character were predominately held by his descendants, starting first with his son Adrian Doyle. After Adrian's death in 1970, Dame Jean Conan Doyle (Conan Doyle's daughter) and the other descendants sold the rights to Baskerville Investments, a firm headed by the surviving wife of Doyle's eldest son. The Bank of Scotland took over the European rights after a loan defaulted and auctioned them off to a consortium led by the producer of the 1954 Holmes series, Sheldon Reynolds.

In 1981, the copyright expired everywhere except in the United States, where it was recaptured by Sir Arthur's daughter Dame Jean Conan Doyle under the provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. The U.S. rights are owned today, following her death in November 1997, by the Estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle. Its U.S. agent can be contacted at jonlellenberg@aol.com.

After Dame Jean's death, a former wife of Sheldon Reynolds, Andrea Plunket, claimed that she was the true owner of the existing rights. But her claim was rejected in a series of U.S. Federal Court decisions, and her attempt to trademark Sherlock Holmes was rejected by the U.S. Patent Office; the courts found that Plunket neither owns nor represents the owners of the Conan Doyle rights in the United States.

Originally, Dame Jean left the American rights to the Royal National Institute for the Blind, but the executors of her Estate wished to keep them in the family's hands, and negotiated a buy-out; the Estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle continues to own the rights in the United States. The Case Book is the only Sherlock Holmes work with an outstanding American copyright and will pass into the public domain in 2023.

from an old version of a Wiki article

Contact information for Jon L. Lellenberg

PS: The link for SherlockHolmesOnline.org belongs to Andrea Plunket.