Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx
Would you mind giving a brief outline of the result (for those of us reading on phone or tablet).
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In most of the world, all the Sherlock Holmes stories are out of copyright, because Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died more than 70 years ago (in 1930, in fact, so they've been out of copyright since 2001).
Most of the Sherlock Holmes stories were published before 1923, making them public domain in the US as well. But the last collection of short stories,
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes wasn't published until 1927, meaning that in the US it's still in copyright, and will be until 1st January 2023.
The copyright holders have asserted that because some of the Sherlock Holmes stories are still in copyright in the US, no-one can create any derivative work (e.g. a film or a new Sherlock Holmes story) with permission and a license fee.
The ruling that prompted this thread declares that the characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories are now public domain, and derivative works may be created without permission or licensing fees, provided that they do not make use of any details that appear only in the stories that are still in copyright in the US.
This is very good news indeed.