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9 Years Ago
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the famous character sleuths created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the early 19th century, are now officially in the public domain and free for public use.
The Conan Doyle Estate had been collecting licensing fees well beyond the author's copyright expiration. Random House published an anthology of Holmes stories in 2011. The Estate demanded a $5000 licensing fee, which Random House paid rather than hold up distribution.
In 2012, the anthology author, Leslie Klinger, sought out a different publisher for a sequel. They refused to publish the book unless Klinger obtained yet another license from the Estate.
Klinger decided enough was enough, sued the Estate and effectively put an end to their collecting bogus licensing fees and royalties.
The practice of claiming copyright where none exists is called COPYFRAUD -- and it is widespread. Court decisions like this ensure that artists and authors like Klinger will not be pressured into paying license fees for character rights that have entered the public domain.
A copy of the Seventh Circuit's decision is available here:
http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2014/D06-16/C:14-1128:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1363624:S:0
Dan Turner
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