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Episode 255: Sherlock Holmes in the Public Domain

<h4 style="text-align: center;">“enter the sacred domain to-night without fear” [SHOS]  </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPURasX6ndCYYAbY5oJB4CXiLfYnz-4QGM4uw2yTVM25Mu-F825kkhi4rbUzFxjOMrkJKEAOzCS5QJQkyPK5X4qFAVClRNjt4IPLX2BVmKdvUXJfOi4cR3U6GlWs41oHOp3wOmzFCzrJLzLfbToV6zI1M9qftvaTHiPrEf3l-cikd-Qprr9UpM9d_iQ/s1280/Widescreen.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPURasX6ndCYYAbY5oJB4CXiLfYnz-4QGM4uw2yTVM25Mu-F825kkhi4rbUzFxjOMrkJKEAOzCS5QJQkyPK5X4qFAVClRNjt4IPLX2BVmKdvUXJfOi4cR3U6GlWs41oHOp3wOmzFCzrJLzLfbToV6zI1M9qftvaTHiPrEf3l-cikd-Qprr9UpM9d_iQ/w640-h360/Widescreen.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div><p>When the #FreeSherlock movement began a decade ago, there were 50 of the original 60 Sherlock Holmes stories in the public domain in the United States. And now, when January 1, 2023 rolls around, "The Veiled Lodger" and "Shoscombe Old Place" will be the final two stories no longer under copyright.</p><p>To mark this occasion and the final episode of Season 16 of <i><b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</b></i>, we invited Leslie Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange"), Betsy Rosenblatt, BSI ("Lucy Ferrier"), and Ashley Polasek, BSI ("Singlestick") back to the show to talk with us about it from the perspective of one who has sued the Conan Doyle Estate, an intellectual property lawyer, and an adaptation studies scholar, respectively.</p><p>How will this affect creators? And what does it mean for fans? These questions and more are answered as we pick the considerable brains we assembled. </p><p>This was originally broadcast as a live video exclusively for our Patreon supporters; <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/live-ihose-in-76372598" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">you can view the video</a> as a replay on our page there.</p><p>Our latest <b>Canonical Couplet</b> quiz gives you a chance to identify a Sherlock Holmes story based on two lines of poetry; if your correct answer is randomly chosen, you'll win something from the IHOSE vaults.</p><p>Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by January 14, 2023 at 11:59 a.m. EST. The winner will be chosen at random from among all the correct answers. All listeners are eligible to play.</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a data-patreon-widget-type="become-patron-button" href="https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=2318606">Become a Patron!</a></div><script async="" src="https://c6.patreon.com/becomePatronButton.bundle.js"></script><p></p><div><div><div style="margin: 0px;">Please do consider becoming a <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">Patron of the Arts</a>. Your support helps us to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services. And now, Patreon supporters get ad-free versions of the episodes.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h3><a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock255.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size: 115 MB, 1:24:10</h3><iframe allowfullscreen="" data-dashlane-frameid="1341" height="192" mozallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/25462506/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/35332c/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes" style="border: none;" title="Embed Player" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="100%"></iframe><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"></div><div style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Interstate, "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Sans", Garuda, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; word-break: normal;"><br /></div><h4 style="line-break: anywhere; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; word-break: normal;"><span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Listen to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere anywhere</a></span></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://pod.link/ihearofsherlock" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCIkwuVBamXWgWlu0frtZ10DWQQflqTD3OV6wU0vFHrGbfCDjtCgA3z5t7YRp_aa-pNjMbiok2vIaTpM66UZ5kEhrBsMkQDNsEr-1Y67kLU0wf4CGrNhqSScZnTm68gxZvXU9hek86TaD/w200-h200/IHOSE+logo+-+headphones+HR.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div><h2 style="margin: 0px;">Sponsors</h2><div style="margin: 0px;"><ul><li><a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a> is the premier publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.</li><li><a href="https://www.mxpublishing.com" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> is a publishing dynamo, with new titles every week. They're sure to have loads of options for your Sherlock Holmes-related needs.</li></ul></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Would you care to advertise with us? You can find <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko" target="_blank">more information here</a>. Let's chat!<br /><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><h2><b>Links</b></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><ul><li>This episode: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose255" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose255</a></li><li>The <a href="http://free-sherlock.com/" target="_blank">Free Sherlock</a> website</li><li><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/05/conan-doyle-estate-sues-mr-holmes.html#.Y66DsXbMLb3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The full timeline of #FreeSherlock</a></li><li><a href="https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/20/free-for-2023/" target="_blank">2023's Public Domain Is a Banger</a> (Pluralistic)</li><li><a href="https://www.polygon.com/entertainment/23527444/public-domain-2023-sherlock-holmes-metropolis" target="_blank">Metropolis, Sherlock Holmes and More Enter Public Domain in 2023</a> (Polygon)</li><li><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-top-ten-works-entering-the-public-domain-2023-180981370/" target="_blank">The Top Ten Works Entering the Public Domain on January 1</a> (Smithsonian)</li><li>Other episodes mentioned:</li><ul><li><a href="https://ihose.co/freesherlock" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Special Episode: Free Sherlock</a></li><li>Episodes with Les: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose31" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">31</a>, <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose32" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">32</a>, <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose105" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">105</a>, <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose155" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">155</a></li><li>Episodes with Ashley: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose109" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">109</a>, <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose143" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">143</a>, <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose177" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">177</a>, <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose212" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">212</a></li></ul></ul><div>Many more links, articles, and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at <a href="https://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a>  as well as through our accounts on <a href="https://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://youtube.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>And would you consider leaving us a rating and review? It would help other Sherlockians to find us.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at 5-1895-221B-5. That's (518) 952-2125.</div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><h3><br />Transcript</h3><div style="margin: 0px;">We are so grateful for your support <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">on Patreon</a>, which makes our transcripts possible. Every amount helps. 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Episode 255: Sherlock Holmes in the Public Domain

“enter the sacred domain to-night without fear” [SHOS] When the #FreeSherlock movement began a decade ago, there were 50 of the original 6...

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by Scott Monty

The Conan Doyle Estate Is Suing Netflix

<h4 style="text-align: center;"><b>"repeated the same story with an absolute disregard" [VALL]</b></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOA2ulLWuPl7QYTn4nR1Pb-RnEtg6IEGEMxRrlWoY0onbnIUUuGG3kpMlm2s-TSkTVjOeLB-a840ktqe5iWQo84LzN93pET7DQ3LuFcGYc5bvPAguBimYcsJMZrgqfW7v01CN9E4JvWCVE/s951/NORW+-+legal+trouble.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="951" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOA2ulLWuPl7QYTn4nR1Pb-RnEtg6IEGEMxRrlWoY0onbnIUUuGG3kpMlm2s-TSkTVjOeLB-a840ktqe5iWQo84LzN93pET7DQ3LuFcGYc5bvPAguBimYcsJMZrgqfW7v01CN9E4JvWCVE/w640-h434/NORW+-+legal+trouble.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, they're at it again.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd.—the incorporated business entity that was set up by distant family members of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to profit from Sherlock Holmes-related works—<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/conan-doyle-estate-sues-netflix-coming-movie-sherlock-holmes-sister-1300108" target="_blank">is suing Netflix</a> over the upcoming movie <i>Enola Holme</i>s.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Enola Holmes Mysteries were written by Nancy Springer and involve a sister of Sherlock Holmes who is 20 years his junior. The series is being adapted for film, starring Millie Bobby Brown in the title role.</div><div><br /></div><div>And now, just months before the movie's intended release, the CDEL is claiming copyright infringement and trademark violations.</div><div><br /></div><div>If this sounds familiar, it should.</div><div><br /></div><div>Recall five years ago, when Mitch Cullin's <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3dtqu6Q" target="_blank">A Slight Trick of the Mind</a></i> was turned into the film <i>Mr. Holmes</i>, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/05/conan-doyle-estate-sues-mr-holmes.html#.XvWZ1kVKjb1" target="_blank">the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. sued Miramax to stop the release of the film</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>In that case, the CDEL named the film studio Miramax, its distributors Roadside Attractions and director Bill Condon — as well as publisher Penguin Random House and screenwriter Mitch Cullin as defendants.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, in a filing in the U.S. District Court in the District of New Mexico, the same jurisdiction as the previous lawsuit. Interestingly, that one claimed New Mexico was the appropriate venue since Cullin grew up there and met with John Bennett Shaw in the latter's Santa Fe home.</div><div><br /></div><div>Named as defendants: Nancy Springer, Penguin Random House, Legendary Pictures Productions, Netflix, PCMA Management and Productions, EH Productions UK, Jack Thorne, and Harry Broadbeer. An impressive, if similar group: one that would seem wide enough that the CDEL might be able to catch some fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>The question is whether their legal reasoning is as sound as last time.</div><div><br /></div><div>In this filing, the best they can do is to say that the Enola Holmes books were sold in the United States and Netflix is releasing the film in the United States, and since New Mexico happens to be one of those states, it should be the venue of the case. To say nothing of the state being the residence of the "corporate memory" of the CDEL.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before we get into the specific claims, let's review what we know from previous entries. [<i>For a full timeline of #FreeSherlock posts, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/05/conan-doyle-estate-sues-mr-holmes.html#.XvWd3UVKjb2" target="_blank">see the Timeline of Events in this link</a>. - Ed.</i>]</div><div><br /></div><div>When the CDEL sued over <i>Mr. Holmes</i>, it had the same modus operandi: the book had been published the decade before, yet it was only when a Hollywood payday — and a solidified release date — became apparent that the CDEL showed up with its hand out.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a 2014 decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals landed this blistering observation over the case involving author Leslie S. Klinger:</div><div><blockquote>"The Doyle estate’s business strategy is plain: charge a modest license fee for which there is no legal basis, in the hope that the "rational" writer or publisher asked for the fee will pay it rather than incur a greater cost, in legal expenses, in challenging the legality of the demand. The strategy had worked with Random House; Pegasus was ready to knuckle under; only Klinger (so far as we know) resisted. In effect he was a private attorney general, combating a disreputable business practice—<b>a form of extortion</b>—and he is seeking by the present motion not to obtain a reward but merely to avoid a loss."</blockquote></div><div>Not only did they lose that judgement, but the CDEL <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.XvWhv0VKjb0" target="_blank">had to pay Klinger's legal fees</a> as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Judge Posner, in his decision, counseled the business entity:</div><div><blockquote>"It’s time the estate, in its own self-interest, changed its business model."</blockquote></div><div>It's clear they did not heed that sage advice.</div><div><br /></div><div>In <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6956021-Sherlock.html" target="_blank">the latest filing</a>, focusing on the last 10 stories that are in copyright, written between 1923 and 1927, the CDEL writes:</div><div><blockquote>"In World War I Conan Doyle lost his eldest son, Arthur Alleyne Kingsley. Four months later he lost his brother, Brigadier-general Innes Doyle. When Conan Doyle came back to Holmes in the Copyrighted Stories between 1923 and 1927, it was no longer enough that the Holmes character was the most brilliant rational and analytical mind. Holmes needed to be human. The character needed to develop human connection and empathy."</blockquote></div><div>Is this to say that Holmes did not exhibit human connection or empathy in the previous 50 stories? His reaction to putting Watson through a smoke-infused ritual in "The Devil's Foot" had plenty of emotion. His way with women in earlier cases made it clear he could employe empathy when he needed to get information out of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides, is it reasonable to expect a court to grant trademark or copyright on the development of <i>emotions</i>?</div><div><br /></div><div>We thought the CDEL was desperate before. Either they're in dire need of funds or they're getting really poor legal advice. And that's just from this armchair lawyer's perspective.</div><div><br /></div><div>They're doubtless trying to push for a settlement, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/09/conan-doyle-estate-reaches-settlement.html#.XvWaHEVKjb0" target="_blank">just as they did with Miramax </a>over <i>Mr. Holmes</i>. Recall that the nefarious Harvey Weinstein ran Miramax. Strangely enough, he may not have been the only odious person in the room in that case.</div><div><br /></div><div>The method and mode of this lawsuit stinks. We hope the case gets the same treatment and has the same outcome as Klinger's initial case.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJgz9qFQW9WnT2gr2v-DidOQ1C_jVn81fzu5UaOOYKMIbWVAQZMTgRVRVqo4hCpzDAzic3B2gBE0NCnkZu6tjVH-bM1z0Igk2bkd6JQvLvCJ4KUT_0e3Q3DqXDpYvUCYyO1dAEmPYF1l7_/s471/dividing+line.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="38" data-original-width="471" height="32" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJgz9qFQW9WnT2gr2v-DidOQ1C_jVn81fzu5UaOOYKMIbWVAQZMTgRVRVqo4hCpzDAzic3B2gBE0NCnkZu6tjVH-bM1z0Igk2bkd6JQvLvCJ4KUT_0e3Q3DqXDpYvUCYyO1dAEmPYF1l7_/w400-h32/dividing+line.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: merriweather; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Timeline of Events</h3><ul style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><li><b>February 14, 2013</b>: Initial lawsuit filed by Leslie S. Klinger against the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd.'s heavy-handed attempt to block <i>In the Company of Sherlock Holmes</i> on Amazon and other bookstores - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/02/imagine-that-you-can-bully-me-chas_14.html#.VWDK7PlViko" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"don't imagine that you can bully me" [CHAS]</a></li><li><b>April 17, 2013</b>: Our coverage on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose51" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Episode 51</a> of IHOSE</li><li><b>December 27, 2013</b>: Leslie Klinger granted an initial victory in the case - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/12/plaintiff-victorious-in-free-sherlock.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"Ha! Nothing could be better." [STOC]</a></li><li><b>December 30, 2013</b>: A special <a href="http://ihose.co/freesherlock" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">#FreeSherlock episode</a> of IHOSE, featuring intellectual property legal scholar and expert Betsy Rosenblatt, BSI ("Lucy Ferrier")</li><li><b>January 4, 2014</b>: The Conan Doyle Estate issues a press release indicating that it would appeal the decision but that it is still the winner because it holds trademarks on the characters - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/01/conan-doyle-estate-business-entity-on.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"spinning fine theories" [NOBL]</a></li><li><b>May 22, 2014</b>: An eyewitness recounted what happened during the appeal hearing - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/05/an-eyewitness-account-to-free-sherlock.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"A higher judge had taken the matter in hand" [STUD]</a></li><li><b>June 16, 2014</b>: The appeal was denied by Judge Richard A. Posner, who rebuked the "quixotic" attempt by the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. to seek "perpetual, or nearly perpetual copyright protection" of the Sherlock Holmes character. <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/234319104/Klinger-v-Conan-Doyle-Estate-Ltd-7th-Circuit-Court-of-Appeals-Decision" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"during these fruitless quests" [HOUN]</a></li><li><b>July 18, 2014</b>: After the CDEL filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on July 11, the petition was turned down - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/07/the-us-supreme-court-denies-conan-doyle.html#.VWDPSflViko" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"the last and highest court of appeal" [STUD]</a></li><li><b>July 20, 2014</b>: A discussion of all things #FreeSherlock on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose66" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Episode 66</a> of IHOSE. </li><li><b>August 5, 2014</b>: The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the CDEL to cease extortion and pay Klinger's legal fees - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.VWDR0vlViko" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"your fees will be assured and you will be given a perfectly free hand" [ILLU]</a></li><li><b>November 3, 2014</b>: The SCOTUS refused to hear arguments in the case - <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/11/supreme-court-wont-hear-freesherlock.html#.XC5mtlxKjb0" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">"the final discussion of those matters which lie between us" [FINA]</a></li><li><b>May 23, 2015</b>: Conan Doyle Estate sues Miramax over the release of the film <i>Mr. Holmes - </i><b><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/05/conan-doyle-estate-sues-mr-holmes.html#.XvWimUVKjb3" target="_blank">"the relentless threat" [VALL]</a></b></li><li><b>September 5, 2015</b>: Settlement reached between CDEL and Miramax - <b><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/09/conan-doyle-estate-reaches-settlement.html#.XvWaHEVKjb0" target="_blank">"I grudge them their blood money" [LAST]</a></b> </li><li><b>November 23, 2015</b>: Bombshell interview with author Mitch Cullin over the lawsuit - <b><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/11/bombshell-interview-with-author-mitch.html#.XvWc40VKjb0">"tour de force of the author" [CARD]</a></b></li><li><b>June 25, 2020</b>: CDEL sues Netflix over <i>Enola Holmes</i> film - <b><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2020/06/the-conan-doyle-estate-is-suing-netflix.html" target="_blank">"repeated the same story with an absolute disregard" [VALL]</a></b> </li></ul></div>

The Conan Doyle Estate Is Suing Netflix

"repeated the same story with an absolute disregard" [VALL] Well, they're at it again. The Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd.—the incorp...

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by Scott Monty

January 1, 2020: Three Sherlock Holmes Stories Enter the Public Domain

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<b>"</b>This is really most grati—most interesting.<b>" [NORW]</b></h4>
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<br />
The New Year not only brings us into the 'Twenties, but brings welcome news from the world of Sherlock Holmes as well.<br />
<br />
Three stories from <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case-Book_of_Sherlock_Holmes#Contents">The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes</a></i> officially enter the public domain as of January 1, 2020: "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs," and "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client." Each was first published in 1924, and under the 95-year copyright term, the copyright expired at the end of 2019.<br />
<br />
That means there are just six stories left under copyright protection: "The Adventure of the Three Gables," "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier," "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane," and "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman," which will enter the public domain in 2022; and "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" and "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place," which will enter the public domain in 2023.<br />
<br />
While the copyrights on the original stories is undisputed, longtime followers of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere may recall the highly pitched legal battle over copyright of the characters from 2013 and 2014.<br />
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<h2>
<b>A Brief History of #FreeSherlock</b></h2>
It began in early 2013 when Leslie S. Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") s<a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/02/imagine-that-you-can-bully-me-chas_14.html#.Xg0SLEdKjb3">ued the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. for use of characters</a> from the Sherlock Holmes canon. The CDE argued that the characters were not fully formed until all of the stories were completed.<br />
<br />
This bizarre legal theory would have created a special copyright term for characters, who could remain copyrighted long after the stories in which they appear enter the public domain, as long as their owners keep tweaking them in subsequent books. Not surprisingly, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/12/plaintiff-victorious-in-free-sherlock.html#.Xg0Ij0dKjb2">the court rejected this argument</a>, finding that<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It is a bedrock principle of copyright that once work enters the public domain it cannot be appropriated as private (intellectual) property, and even the most creative of legal theories cannot trump this tenet.”</blockquote>
In <a href="http://ihose.co/freesherlock">a special episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a>, we talked with intellectual property law professor Betsy Rosenblatt, BSI ("Lucy Ferrier") and Les about the implications for literary and entertainment characters:<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/134355181&color=ad1215" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Then in June 2014, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, with an opinion written by Judge Richard Posner, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/07/the-us-supreme-court-denies-conan-doyle.html#.Xg0SdEdKjb0">rejected the appeal by the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.</a>, rebuking it as a "quixotic" attempt to seek "perpetual, or nearly perpetual copyright protection" of the Sherlock Holmes character.<br />
<br />
The CDE filed an emergency stay with the Supreme Court of the United States in July and SCOTUS promptly denied it. Then in August, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.Xg0ar0dKjb1">the 7th Circuit ordered the Conan Doyle Estate to give up its "extortion"</a> and develop a new business model.<br />
<br />
The saga reached its conclusion in November 2014 when <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/11/supreme-court-wont-hear-freesherlock.html#.Xg0TPkdKjb1">SCOTUS officially rejected the dispute</a>.<br />
<br />
And here we are.<br />
<br />
The stories continue to roll into public domain, and the characters remain so.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

January 1, 2020: Three Sherlock Holmes Stories Enter the Public Domain

" This is really most grati—most interesting. " [NORW] The New Year not only brings us into the 'Twenties, but brings wel...

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by Scott Monty

Bombshell Interview with Author Mitch Cullin

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"tour de force of the author"<b> [CARD]</b></h4>
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<b><br />
</b><b>[Editor's note:</b> <i>after legal proceedings delayed our intended podcast interview with Mr. Cullin, we commissioned contributor <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Derrick%20Belanger" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Derrick Belanger</a> to conduct an interview via email. The following represents the unvarnished commentary of the author and his experience</i>.]<br />
<br />
Mitch Cullin did not set out to be known as the author of a controversial Sherlock Holmes novel.  In fact, the New Mexico native doesn't even consider himself a Sherlockian, and he'd rather be meditating than reading anything Holmes-related.  Yet, with the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. lawsuit against the film <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3g5szYt" target="_blank">Mr. Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_2765668" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=1712ec62e2e245748a2eb162673ce34b&_cb=1448255881654" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> and Cullin's <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3dtqu6Q" target="_blank">A Slight Trick of the Mind<img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5677355" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=7812f8d0788153deac205f67ecc84712&_cb=1448255891557" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></a></i>, the novel on which the film is based, Mitch Cullin has emerged, like <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/%23FreeSherlock" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leslie Klinger</a>, as a Holmesian hero, fighting to protect the rights of pastiche authors and trying to keep Sherlock Holmes free.  After a strongly worded post on his Facebook page explaining the lawsuit settlement and his reasons against it, I contacted Mr. Cullin to ask him about the lawsuit, the film <i>Mr. Holmes</i>, and his current venture into photography.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<b>I Hear of Sherock Everywhere:  Let's start with the settlement of the lawsuit the Conan Doyle Estate brought against  <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i> and the film <i>Mr. Holmes</i>.</b></h4>
<b>Mitch Cullin:</b> First off, I want to be clear on who we're talking about when we say the Conan Doyle Estate, particularly in terms of the U.S. and the Estate's business model for almost the past twenty years, what <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="SEARCH" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="79bfbb2ceaea7e6826d6a460688db0da" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Neil Gaiman" href="https://amzn.to/2Yz2Bqc" id="amznPsBmLink_3158717" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Neil Gaiman</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3158717" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=79bfbb2ceaea7e6826d6a460688db0da&_cb=1448256069127" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /> called a "shakedown operation." When the lawsuit by the Estate against the film and my book was announced last May — in somewhat uber-nerdy fashion on the occasion of Sir Arthur's 156th birthday — I immediately wondered who was behind the lawsuit. In other words, I found myself asking, "Who exactly is the Conan Doyle Estate in this day and age?"<br />
<br />
Most people have no idea about what individuals loiter under the veil of the Estate, and I was no different. Knowing Conan Doyle has no living direct heirs, I assumed there must be some very distant Miss Havisham-like relative wandering about a country house in Scotland who was behind the lawsuit. But that idea turned out to be rather far from the truth. In fact, the remaining rights are owned by <a href="http://www.conandoyleestate.com/" target="_blank">Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd.</a>, a UK company, not individuals. The closest living heirs of Arthur Conan Doyle are Charles Foley, Richard Doyle, and Catherine Doyle Beggs, and Georgina Doyle, widow of Brigadier John Doyle, whose father Innes was Sir Arthur’s younger brother.<br />
<br />
However, the Estate "client" that is referred to in the lawsuit's claims against me is a fellow named Jon Lellenberg, a former defense strategist who is now retired and enjoying life in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the city where I happen to have been born. Of course, once I learned this, I immediately Googled Mr. Lellenberg to attach a face to the name. It was a disappointment, actually, because I was expecting to glimpse an imposing foe with a steely-eyed glint and a walrus mustache. That was hardly the case. And as it happens, in spite of the fact that <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12301.Jon_Lellenberg?from_search=true&search_version=service" target="_blank">his Goodreads page</a> lists him as being from the United Kingdom, Mr. Lellenberg is an American from Missouri. It turns out, too, that many Sherlockians are aware of him as the U.S. representative for the Estate, as well as the editor and author of several decent books that pertain to Conan Doyle. So when talking about the lawsuit and who was responsible for it, I'm really talking about only one person, and that is Jon Lellenberg. <br />
<br />
A couple more important things to mention for context. Lellenberg had been the exclusive U.S. representative for Dame Jean Conan Doyle for years. After her death, the Conan Doyle Estate was incorporated into the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.. The CDE then took its business model cues in terms of copyright and trademark from the Disney Corporation, which had successfully lobbied Congress to extend copyright laws into what became known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act in 1998 — yep, that Sonny Bono — or, unofficially, as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. There are a few good aspects of the Bono Act, but the bad part was that it brought back into copyright protection things that had lapsed, such as the <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B0056JEL3W" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="35edd5fef6e3582eab9eb6546e6bb8e3" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes" href="https://amzn.to/31glHD8" id="amznPsBmLink_567124" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_567124" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=35edd5fef6e3582eab9eb6546e6bb8e3&_cb=1448256414297" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>. For those stories, the copyright period is now 95 years after publication. Thus, the last of the <i>Case-Book</i> stories won't relapse into the public domain until 2022.<br />
<br />
This extension in U.S. copyright laws then set the stage for how the the Estate has gone forward ever since. It's a business model that, in my opinion, seems to epitomize the neoconservative fixation with prizing unbridled corporate interests over reasoned free-market fairness, not to mention a disposition of low tolerance for diplomacy of any kind. Lastly, and not without significance, it must be pointed out that <b>Jon Lellenberg isn't just the U.S. representative for the CDE, but, in fact, he owns a certain percentage of the Estate</b>.<br />
<br />
[<b><i>Editor's note:</i></b> <i>let's just let that last sentence sink in, shall we? Given <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.VlKlU_mrTb0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">what we know about the methods of the CDE</a>, "these are very deep waters," as Holmes said.</i>]<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: What was the basis of the lawsuit?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> The basis of the lawsuit by the CDE against me, my publisher, the film company, and director Bill Condon claimed that my novel was loaded with copyright violations from at least one of the copyrighted Holmes stories in <i>The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes</i>, and the CDE also asserted that there was a trademark violation for the usage of "Sherlock Holmes" since, it was claimed, they owned the trademark where it pertained to both film and books.<br />
<br />
That assertion, by the way, is flat-out untrue. The CDE has a trademark pending in that regard, but they don't currently own one, nor have they ever owned one. There's quite a good chance the trademark will be denied, as it should be. If the trademark is granted, then things will become very interesting, because the CDE will be able to metaphorically own the copyright to the name "Sherlock Holmes" for perpetuity. In theory, that would mean an individual would be free to make a film version of the public domain Conan Doyle Holmes stories — let's say <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1503312755" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="58e253e7f307a32290f0d1fec14bee80" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Hound of the Baskervilles" href="https://amzn.to/2B4fLmi" id="amznPsBmLink_4178344" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Hound of the Baskervilles</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_4178344" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=58e253e7f307a32290f0d1fec14bee80&_cb=1448257225452" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> — but that person would have to pay the CDE a licensing fee for the use of the trademarked name of "Sherlock Holmes".<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: Why did your publisher settle?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> I'm legally bound to say nothing in regard to the specifics of the final agreement, so I can't speak to what the settlement entails. I can, however, talk about everything that led up to the final agreement. On face value, it would appear that my publisher caved to the CDE's demands. In reality, that was far from the case, regardless of how "very pleased" with the outcome the CDE's lawyer has stated to the press; that's just spin, that's what he's paid to say.<br />
<br />
In spite of whatever is right or wrong, the blunt reality is that it is cheaper for corporations to settle than to go to court, and I believe the CDE is not only keenly aware of that reality, but that they bank on it as an outcome. [<i><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.VlKmMfmrTb0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Judge Posner of the 7th Circuit Court believed the CDE was keenly aware as well</a>. - <b>Ed.</b></i>] The lawsuit was never intended or designed by the CDE to be litigated. For that matter, contrary to what the CDE has suggested, the film was never kept by them from having a U.S. release. In order for that to have occurred, an injunction against the film would have had to be filed well in advance of the film's release, which didn't happen because the Estate surely knew it wouldn't have received an injunction. The negotiations between the CDE and Random House and I went on for almost three months, but the majority of those negotiations between the Estate and Random House were non-starters and often rather childish.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
<b>IHOSE: With some of the Sherlock Holmes stories still under copyright in the U.S. did you or your publisher ever worry about copyright infringement when you wrote <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i>?  Did the estate ever question you or your publisher before the film <i>Mr. Holmes</i> was announced?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> No, not all; neither my publisher nor I was worried, especially since 99.9% of the book had nothing to do with the specifics of the Conan Doyle canon, and those moments that did pertain to the stories were minor, with only <u>three</u> actual references that could be tied to the U.S. copyrighted stories — though those three references are all textbook examples of fair use.<br />
<br />
In other words, no readers are buying my book instead of a copyrighted Holmes story so they can find out that Watson moved to Queen Anne Street, nor did anything about my novel harm the sales or prospects of those copyrighted works — quite the opposite, probably. But then again, if public domain certainties have been ignored over and over by the CDE then why on earth would perfectly obvious examples of fair use be respected when doing so wouldn't benefit the CDE financially in any manner whatsoever? And as for the film, it doesn't even have any of those fair use references in it, so the lawsuit was truly without merit in terms of the movie.<br />
<br />
More to the point, the novel was written between 2000 and 2003, and it wasn't published until 2005, in which it received <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/books/review/a-slight-trick-of-the-mind-old-man-holmes.html" target="_blank">favorable reviews in the <i>New York Times</i></a> and other major publications, yet no one — not me or my publisher — heard as much as a peep from the CDE until the equivalent of a decade later when the film was announced; <b><i>that fact alone should speak volumes</i></b>. [<i>Emphasis ours. -<b>Ed.</b></i>]<br />
<br />
For that matter, both Laurie R. King and Michael Chabon, two writers I know, have written about Holmes in the same manner, with the same settings and references as I did in my book — with much greater success, I might add — but neither of them to date have heard from the CDE or been asked to pay bogus licensing fees. But let's see what happens in the future when either <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0060777109" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="2adbed5738420af1a78fa39f863f4d49" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Final Solution" href="https://amzn.to/3eB7epo" id="amznPsBmLink_6374138" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Final Solution</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_6374138" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=2adbed5738420af1a78fa39f863f4d49&_cb=1448257867321" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> or <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1250055709" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="98f9955e59cccc5f0ac031cb23fedca2" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Beekeeper's Apprentice" href="https://amzn.to/3eCfuFv" id="amznPsBmLink_5612699" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Beekeeper's Apprentice</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5612699" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=98f9955e59cccc5f0ac031cb23fedca2&_cb=1448257876807" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> gets turned into a movie.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: Tell us about the book you mentioned on your Facebook Page that you are working on chronicling the business methods used by the CDE.</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> If you don’t mind, I’m going to stay mum about that one for the time being. It’s in the works, and there’s a lot of research underway. It’ll take a good while to pull it all together, and, most likely, I’ll have to wait until one or two people depart this planet before I’ll get it out into the world. I will say, though, that the idea for the book began to take shape when the lawsuit came about, and when I was feverishly taking notes and trying to educate myself about the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. in anticipation of going to court--so there was a lot of immersive research involved during a relatively short period of time. I now have the basic framework for the book, so the next phase will be extensive research, interviews, and fact checking.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE:  Now that the dust has settled from the lawsuit, do you have any interest in writing a new Sherlock Holmes story?  If so, would it involve a continuation of <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i>?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> No, no desire whatsoever. What else could I do with the character, aside from having him decompose in a rocking chair? I've been asked for years to write a sequel, and I was even offered a decent amount of money to do so at one time. But <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1400078229" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="872b5cb90a8ecbb4690660fa0645baad" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Slight Trick of the Mind" href="https://amzn.to/3dtqu6Q" id="amznPsBmLink_7659680" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Slight Trick of the Mind</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7659680" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=872b5cb90a8ecbb4690660fa0645baad&_cb=1448258150330" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> had a very organic creation, so anything else would be disingenuous on my part. The novel was my way of dealing with my father's health issues as his sharp mind started to unravel. It's a literary novel, really, and a highly metaphorical yet personal one at that, touching on my own grappling with the definitive ending of my childhood.<br />
<br />
It's also a book about lost father figures, and a tribute to the late John Bennett Shaw who had been another great benign father figure to me as a boy. I was saying goodbye to a lot of things and a lot of people with that book, and that was the function it served for me. In fact, my mother died shortly before the book was published, so she became tied into the theme of vanishing loved ones that is at the core of the novel. Now I have no wish to revisit that part of my past, and I'm happy I'll never have to write that book again. Plus, the only preoccupation that holds my creative interest anymore is photography, both as an art form and a hobby; that's what sustains me as an artist and poet nowadays.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: You have been bluntly clear that you are not a Sherlockian.  In fact, you've said you're not really a fan of the canon, yet you've crafted what some people consider to be the greatest pastiche of the 21st century.  Why did you settle on Holmes for your protagonist?  Why didn't you invent your own character for the novel or even use a different fictional character as the focus of your novel?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> My novel is a work of literary fiction that uses Sherlock Holmes as a device to explore other subjects that exist far beyond anything Conan Doyle could have conceived or written about, such as post-war Japan, atomic technology, the modern age of the mid-20th century. I wasn’t writing a genre mystery pastiche based on the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but rather a layered story with the underlying themes of memory loss, sons in search of lost fathers, and longing for lost loves and lost opportunities.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98T6VHXQ3Z9NDA1npp4v80uAl6U5LMerR54Thaa6pH-GIr4PlBeCep9OLm-zpICXuEkdubI-MumA3RyAKtxJdgyYZEE3zFGAoyAE54jYCKXBT2xHd-gYQGLAt4MAFtolVkdzzgkeymCD0/s1600/Mitch+Cullin+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98T6VHXQ3Z9NDA1npp4v80uAl6U5LMerR54Thaa6pH-GIr4PlBeCep9OLm-zpICXuEkdubI-MumA3RyAKtxJdgyYZEE3zFGAoyAE54jYCKXBT2xHd-gYQGLAt4MAFtolVkdzzgkeymCD0/s640/Mitch+Cullin+Poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mitch Cullin at a Mr. Holmes screening. <i>Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/vRa1np" target="_blank">KCET.org</a></i></td></tr>
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One of the things that the CDEL asserted in their claims against me was that “there will be no difficulty proving Cullin’s access to Conan Doyle’s works, as Cullin’s dedication to the late John Bennett Shaw of Santa Fe, one of this country’s most noted Sherlockians, notes that Shaw once left him in charge of his library.” Guilty as charged. I was 13 at the time, around the age of young Roger in my book. And, just like Roger did with Holmes in my novel, I got to explore John’s library while he and his wife went on vacation.<br />
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I was a latchkey kid who lived with his single father in Santa Fe. By the time I turned 14, though, punk music and teenage male hormones moved my interests elsewhere. Many years later, when I learned that John had died, I began toying with the idea of writing a Sherlock book in his honor. At around the same time, my father began to exhibit signs of memory loss, something that was very difficult for me to deal with since my father was my hero and had always had such a sharp mind. Suddenly my childhood began to feel very far away from me, so I decided to incorporate what my father was going through into the book as its major theme: memory, and what happens to an individual when memory starts to go.<br />
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The book took three years to write, and in that time my mother developed the ovarian cancer that would eventually kill her. And while she and my father had been divorced for years, they were both still quite close. What I then saw, as my mother’s illness progressed, was my father’s deepening regret for choices he had made in his life as a younger man. All of this I dealt with metaphorically through the novel. Elderly Holmes’s memory loss, his regrets and desire to love, the woman he once desired as a younger man and who suddenly died before he could make sense of his complicated feelings for her, and his affection for the very small boy he found himself spending time with alone: all of this came from my personal life, not from the ghost-mind of the CDE's beloved Conan Doyle. Furthermore, the mentorship that my elderly Holmes provides for the boy Roger is based on the dynamic I had with the late John Bennett Shaw.  <br />
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In a relatively short period of time, I had lost — and I was losing — my childhood father figures, and therefore I dealt with it through my writing, hence the theme of men in search of fathers that occurs throughout the book. Let’s not also forget that, for me, the character of Sherlock Holmes was also a childhood hero and father figure to me, hence my desire to use him as the main protagonist.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: When conducting research for A Slight Trick of the Mind, which Holmes stories were most important in influencing your writing?  What other sources were significant influences on your novel?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> The outside influences were way more important to the writing of book than anything from Conan Doyle's pen, aside from those stories that pertained to Canonically important details that I felt should be there in order for the story itself to ring true for serious Sherlockians, not just the casual fan. For that, I relied much on <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="051703817X" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="7db24c7a15fe1236fce44383fa28e4e2" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="William S. Baring-Gould's book" href="https://amzn.to/381ytXD" id="amznPsBmLink_7173412" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">William S. Baring-Gould's book</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7173412" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=7db24c7a15fe1236fce44383fa28e4e2&_cb=1448258778882" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /> and things like Jack Tracy's <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="038046490X" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="3eb35dc4fc83ba417ef6d1561eff7856" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Encyclopedia Sherlockiana" href="https://amzn.to/2NwJB5y" id="amznPsBmLink_6710914" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Encyclopedia Sherlockiana</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_6710914" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=3eb35dc4fc83ba417ef6d1561eff7856&_cb=1448258767519" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, as well as revisiting H.F. Heard's wonderful amazing Mycroft mysteries. Apparently, this is a problem when it comes to the U.S. copyright issue because if you want to be canonically accurate with tiny details that are important then you run the chance of being sued.<br />
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But, anyway, aside from research about post-war Japan, the main sources of influence during the creation of the novel were writers that I was reading at the time, such as Graham Swift and Kenzaburo Oe. I was also very much inspired by Hikaru Okuizumi's beautiful short novel <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0156011832" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="8916adef84a8dc3129ff77c9afae2ed2" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Stones Cry Out" href="https://amzn.to/2YAvWk5" id="amznPsBmLink_6613400" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Stones Cry Out</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_6613400" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=8916adef84a8dc3129ff77c9afae2ed2&_cb=1448258812844" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, a writer who I'd throw my arms around in gratitude should I ever chance to meet him.<br />
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<a amzn-ps-bm-asin="0156011832" class="amzn_ps_bm_il" data-amzn-link-id="439e39c30eb51bb6c9856c7ebc85d8f1" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="the stones cry out" href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Stones-Cry-Hikaru-Okuizumi/dp/0156011832/ref=as_li_bk_ia/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=439e39c30eb51bb6c9856c7ebc85d8f1&linkCode=kia" id="amznPsBmLink_4257104" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUKjviOVoqNxE6VsBE_MbboAOKmN4LaLtjOnRMTIQec6zk8MPmvQvAIomTt2coJP_8nGlLvlnpAoL-ok9og3PT1iGeHHoOhQyRJGjfk0HH_wwDrnGsXuNYGGumy0b3eWIDhr_c-WVS9ky/s320/Okuizumi+-+Stones+Cry+Out.jpg" width="210" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_4257104" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=kia&linkId=439e39c30eb51bb6c9856c7ebc85d8f1&_cb=1448258737632" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></div>
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<br />
<h4>
<b>IHOSE: It has been noted that the film <i>Mr. Holmes</i> made some significant changes from the book <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i>.  Some changes seemed odd such as renaming the last name of important characters from Keller to Kelmot, and of course, the big change involved the boy, Roger.  What did you think of the changes made to your book when it was transferred to the screen?</b></h4>
<b>MC: </b>I'm philosophical about the changes. The book is the book, the film is the film, and my job was done over a decade ago. To say a film is "loosely based on a novel" should go without saying. All film adaptions of novels are loosely based, which is an understandable by-product of the narrative compression that occurs when moving a story from one medium to an entirely different one. But I've been aware of the changes that were to come for years now, and I believe the second draft of the script already had the big change for Roger.<br />
<br />
Then, of course, there are things in the film that I've kicked myself for not having thought of for the book, such as that great meta moment where Holmes goes to watch the film version of himself at a cinema. It kills me that I didn't think of that idea, which Bill Condon gets full credit for envisioning; I remember him telling me about the idea during a dinner together, and I thought to myself, "Damn you, that's good."<br />
<br />
You know, though, I never got around to asking why Keller became Kelmot. Maybe because it evoked Helen Keller? I don't know. But I'm very proud of the film, especially how it maintained the heart, soul, and integrity of my novel while still providing a more upbeat conclusion than my version. In truth, the positive outcome that the film provides is closer now to how I feel about life, as opposed to the rather dark, pessimistic place I was in when the novel was written.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: One of the most famous books about Holmes is <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B0014YL4WY" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="20b7f6616a802cc1d76f6df906c51717" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street" href="https://amzn.to/381ytXD" id="amznPsBmLink_9984719" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_9984719" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=20b7f6616a802cc1d76f6df906c51717&_cb=1448258897197" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> by William S. Baring-Gould.  In the book, Baring-Gould surmises that Holmes was taught meditation in Tibet during the Great Hiatus and possibly converted to Buddhism.  We see Holmes using meditation to help deal with the deaths of his friends and family members in your novel.  Did you come to a similar conclusion as Mr. Baring-Gould about Holmes when you wrote <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i>?  Do you believe he converted to Buddhism later in life?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> To be honest, if anyone wanted to sue me for copyright infringement it should be the Baring-Gould Estate. When writing <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i> I used that book as my Holmes bible, not any of the Conan Doyle stories. It was Baring-Gould's timeline that I followed. I even gave a shout out to <i>Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street</i> in the acknowledgments of the novel. It's such a wonderful book. When Ian McKellen was readying to play Holmes for the film, I recommended the Baring-Gould one to him. I'm glad you mentioned <i>Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street</i> since it's my favorite Holmes book, and one of the few that has remained on my bookshelves over the years.<br />
<br />
Anyway, why not, I like that idea of Holmes being a Buddhist. Probably because I'm a Buddhist, and I've been practicing meditation daily for a long time now. On the other hand, though, I think my version of Holmes is less Buddhist and more transcendentalist in his beliefs, like my father was. So, in the world of my novel, I don't think Holmes would convert to Buddhism later in life, but in the alternate reality of Baring-Gould's vision I choose to believe he did. My Holmes would probably balk at anything that had even a remote religious component to it. Of course, someone can still meditate successfully and be an atheist; the two things aren't incompatible at all.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE: You've strayed from writing and are now delving into photography.  Why the shift?  When will we see your photographic work?  </b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> It is true that my creative success has been mostly as a novelist, something that I must admit doesn’t come natural to me. Writing novels is damn hard work, and, honestly, not much fun. But my first and enduring creative love has always been photography, a pursuit that has always given me great pleasure and freedom. I started taking photographs in 1985 when I was 16. My father gave me <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B002WG06RW" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="d757f96d95021488945d330d4ae429f0" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="35mm Minolta" href="http://www.amazon.com/Minolta-XG-1-35mm-Camera/dp/B002WG06RW/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=d757f96d95021488945d330d4ae429f0&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3952187" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">35mm Minolta</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3952187" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=d757f96d95021488945d330d4ae429f0&_cb=1448259354659" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /> as a gift, and it didn’t take long for me to get the hang of shooting images of my friends and the environment of the small ranching town in West Texas where I was living.<br />
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Jump to 2009 when I found myself feeling a bit lost, somewhat adrift as a person and as an artist. My mother had died a few years earlier, and my father was now sinking into his final days of dementia. I had finished a novel that no one was interested in publishing, but even before that, I had grown tired of the isolation, strain, and mental gymnastics that writing novels required; it was still challenging to write, though no longer fun or psychologically pleasing on any level. As a result of reaching this personal crossroad, I decided to take some time off and do what I hadn’t done in years, which was to get a normal job and ponder what to do next.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GtEwULnXzSIO-H95L6OrTDj6Kxz9hLUrILWevbod9GTtDgJH50HcdpPFVuMUzbBE_iMwgY5AvYzJtx9l9KU5elsSsqiSLImQESS5AtCeFWtnOtjRrLNywbuMCF_wjb2xJEACklf8fY9X/s1600/Mitch+Cullin+Mother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3GtEwULnXzSIO-H95L6OrTDj6Kxz9hLUrILWevbod9GTtDgJH50HcdpPFVuMUzbBE_iMwgY5AvYzJtx9l9KU5elsSsqiSLImQESS5AtCeFWtnOtjRrLNywbuMCF_wjb2xJEACklf8fY9X/s640/Mitch+Cullin+Mother.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">My Mother as Angela Davis © Mitch Cullin (used with permission)</span></td></tr>
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By 2010, while working in a pretty miserable retail environment at a museum bookstore, I began taking pictures on my days off with a little Canon digital camera as way to keep myself feeling creatively engaged. The following year I quit the job, having come to the realization that the one thing I really wanted to do was the one thing I’d always been a natural at doing: making images with a camera.<br />
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By the time I officially announced my retirement from fiction writing this past summer, I had already amassed hundreds of new images, and I had begun diving into the thousands of old negatives from the previous years that I’d kept hidden away in shoe boxes. So next year, fingers crossed, should see the publication of at least two limited-edition photobooks from me--one about my recent travels through Turkey, another showcasing my photographs from West Texas taken during the 1980s, both containing my images and a personal essay from me.<br />
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<h4>
<b>IHOSE:  Any last thoughts?</b></h4>
<b>MC:</b> If I can go back to the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. for a last moment, it's no news flash to suggest that there's something undermining and unkind in nature about how the current Estate behaves toward a variety of writers and editors, though the sad fact is that knowing this can cast a big chill over a person's desire to create anything new or original about Sherlock Holmes, lest she or he end up being threatened with legal action should their work find a publisher. Believe me, if I had known there was the possibility that I was going to be sued, I'd have likely reconsidered writing <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i> in the first place.<br />
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Even so, it must be remembered that these Holmes books by others are the lifeblood of the Sherlockian world; these novels, pastiches, anthologies, movies, television shows — these are the things that draw the majority of people back to the original canon in the first place — as well as introduce thousands of people to the character of Sherlock Holmes, and it has been that way since at least the middle of the previous century. I would argue that it's <i>because</i> of these outside works that Holmes has remained such a vibrant, modern character. The CDE should be grateful for that, and they should honor those who aid Conan Doyle's legacy and do so without seeking unwarranted monetary reward; they should be respectful of the people who have kept the character alive all these years later. Without us, they'd have nothing.<br />
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See also: <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/a-santa-fe-question-who-owns-sherlock-holmes/article_a0e72388-1bfa-5a03-b8b0-26e70735da4d.html?mode=jqm">related article from the <i>Santa Fe New Mexican</i></a>.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Cullin" target="_blank">Mitch Cullin</a></b> is the author of eight books of fiction, including the novel-in-verse <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1579620612" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="168b1f9522166381a614c11d1745fe2e" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="branches cullin" href="https://amzn.to/2NxYswt" id="amznPsBmLink_9141587" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Branches</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_9141587" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=168b1f9522166381a614c11d1745fe2e&_cb=1448259699311" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00TUPLU14" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="e240cc1539f99f30a62606e58d352b45" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Cosmology of Bing" href="https://amzn.to/3fWpFFa" id="amznPsBmLink_2122347" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Cosmology of Bing</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_2122347" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=e240cc1539f99f30a62606e58d352b45&_cb=1448259710602" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00TUPLSLQ" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="689b8d7a9f7e447a76b4210bd4c13f07" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="undersurface cullin" href="https://amzn.to/2YzarjN" id="amznPsBmLink_8394876" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Undersurface</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_8394876" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=689b8d7a9f7e447a76b4210bd4c13f07&_cb=1448259732801" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, and the globe-spanning story collection <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B005IISQQE" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="387da1fca076ab535c6d7e036facbc85" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="From the Place in the Valley Deep in the Forest" href="https://amzn.to/2YDu4Hv" id="amznPsBmLink_8384187" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">From the Place in the Valley Deep in the Forest</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_8384187" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=387da1fca076ab535c6d7e036facbc85&_cb=1448259743261" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>. To date, his books have been translated into 14 languages.<br />
<br />
<i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i>, his revisionist account of an elderly Sherlock Holmes in retirement, is currently in pre-production with Focus Features. The film adaptation of his novel <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="080231340X" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="e290bd8cbbf1305841bbd51a0e2af3e8" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="tideland mitch cullin" href="https://amzn.to/2NxsoZq" id="amznPsBmLink_533474" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tideland</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_533474" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=e290bd8cbbf1305841bbd51a0e2af3e8&_cb=1448259676864" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> was directed and co-scripted by former Monty Pythoner Terry Gilliam, produced by Jeremy Thomas, and starred Jeff Bridges, Janet McTeer, and Jennifer Tilly. Besides slowly loosing his hair and writing novels in increasingly smaller and expensive dwellings throughout southwestern America, he continues to collaborate in all things with his long-term partner Peter I. Chang.<br />
<br />
With Chang as director/editor, he produced <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B015QGEKDA" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="4bf5d22ef5980101d148f2c0591725e7" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="I Want to Destroy America" href="https://amzn.to/2BIQHAV" id="amznPsBmLink_7528616" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I Want to Destroy America</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7528616" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=4bf5d22ef5980101d148f2c0591725e7&_cb=1448259819068" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, a documentary about the street musician Hisao Shinagawa that premiered at the 2006 Atlanta Underground Film Festival and went on to have multiple screenings at the 2006 Santa Fe Film Festival. In 2009, a second Chang-Cullin documentary feature, <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B0159HRTPW" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="7c1ea06cf43973ec1649ed1013e67a55" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Tokyo Is Dreaming" href="https://amzn.to/3i5mRHR" id="amznPsBmLink_1773388" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tokyo Is Dreaming</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_1773388" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=7c1ea06cf43973ec1649ed1013e67a55&_cb=1448259852712" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i>, had its premiere at the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival in the U.K., and features a soundtrack by Calexico's John Convertino.<br />
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He continues to write novels in decreasing spurts and increasing sputters, but usually he can be found ambling around his garden in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County.<br />
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<i>Image source: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIP5uSPdvxE" target="_blank">YouTube</a></i><br />
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<br />

Bombshell Interview with Author Mitch Cullin

"tour de force of the author" [CARD] [Editor's note: after legal proceedings delayed our intended podcast intervie...

+ Read more »

by Belanger Books

Conan Doyle Estate Reaches Settlement with Miramax Over 'Mr. Holmes'

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"I grudge them their blood money" [LAST]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fVASK60jPffzpbxBK3rZrhlfyd_fb5-IuFAxpXoVgcyEqk5fxEMXJCD61he8UWoSGQ-030CVTycVirWcxzy6oLzcYCqqMmd_Lhuf3EoQib6xDA50gq6Tv3Er84YcFY9HJqhvon4jAONZ/s1600/The_Adventure_of_the_Blanched_Soldier_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7fVASK60jPffzpbxBK3rZrhlfyd_fb5-IuFAxpXoVgcyEqk5fxEMXJCD61he8UWoSGQ-030CVTycVirWcxzy6oLzcYCqqMmd_Lhuf3EoQib6xDA50gq6Tv3Er84YcFY9HJqhvon4jAONZ/s400/The_Adventure_of_the_Blanched_Soldier_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/05/conan-doyle-estate-sues-mr-holmes.html#.Vep6FvZViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/05/conan-doyle-estate-sues-mr-holmes.html#.Vep6FvZViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Earlier this year, </a>we reported on the lawsuit that the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. filed against Miramax, Roadside Attractions and Bill Condon in conjunction with the release of the film <i>Mr. Holmes</i> starring Ian McKellen.<br />
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Now, the Estate Limited <a href="http://variety.com/2015/biz/news/mr-holmes-lawsuit-settlement-arthur-conan-doyle-1201585667/" target="_blank">is claiming victory in its latest effort</a>. An agreement was in place in principle prior to the release of the film, and the parties are in the process of finalizing it. Benjamin Allison, attorney for the Estate, said earlier this week, "The estate is very pleased." Miramax had no comment on the ongoing litigation. According to press reports, the defendants had not filed a response to the lawsuit.<br />
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This is precisely how most nuisance lawsuits are handled by large entities. Big company lawyers are more expensive than a settlement would be. In our view, this is exactly what the CDEL hoped for, and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.VeqC9PZViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the 7th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals noted last year</a> noted in its landmark decision against the Estate last year:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Doyle estate’s business strategy is plain: charge a modest license fee for which there is no legal basis, in the hope that the "rational" writer or publisher asked for the fee will pay it rather than incur a greater cost, in legal expenses, in challenging the legality of the demand. The strategy had worked with Random House; Pegasus was ready to knuckle under; only Klinger (so far as we know) resisted. In effect he was a private attorney general, combating a disreputable business practice—<u><b>a form of extortion</b></u>—and he is seeking by the present motion not to obtain a reward but merely to avoid a loss.</blockquote>
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The court even made a helpful recommendation:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It’s time the estate, in its own self-interest, changed its business model.</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
However, with a Hollywood movie in its sights and precious little time left on its remaining 10 copyrighted stories, the Limited entity insists on panning for as much gold as it can.<br /><br />
<br />
Meanwhile the case of <a href="https://burtwolder.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/a-strange-case/" target="_blank">Conan Doyle suing his own estate</a> from beyond the grave continues...<br />
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<br /></div>

Conan Doyle Estate Reaches Settlement with Miramax Over 'Mr. Holmes'

"I grudge them their blood money" [LAST] Earlier this year, we reported on the lawsuit that the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. fil...

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by Scott Monty

Conan Doyle Sues Own Estate from Beyond the Grave

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"opening a grave without the consent of the next-of-kin" [HOUN]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU5ly0ipwPB9_GkyrC-8cL5FGYCUBVVoKO6PbuiyFYyXByBaQTNSfMHkyqf_JmHGKPrjkiWEQQ798OvtOKuJiLm_VaVoIKqwoUySMFc9KX0d12qgLiWDkhhGb62XBgWFmfgJIkGASx8gQb/s1600/Ouija2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU5ly0ipwPB9_GkyrC-8cL5FGYCUBVVoKO6PbuiyFYyXByBaQTNSfMHkyqf_JmHGKPrjkiWEQQ798OvtOKuJiLm_VaVoIKqwoUySMFc9KX0d12qgLiWDkhhGb62XBgWFmfgJIkGASx8gQb/s640/Ouija2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, has sued the Conan Doyle Estate, according to a lawsuit filed late yesterday in Tweenhauken, Pennsylvania.<br />
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Karl Planchette, owner of Planchette's Paranormal Parlor, says a Ouija board manufactured in 1890 had been vibrating mysteriously.<br />
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"I usually have the TV on, and this one board often hops around a little during the news. Last week there was a report about <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Mr%20Holmes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">some movie</a>, and it started to bounce around like crazy.  So I wrote down the letters and I was real surprised when I read it back and saw it was a lawsuit.  So I took it over to the courthouse," said Planchette.<br />
<br />
According to Planchette, the complaint points to "statements harming the reputation of Arthur Conan Doyle as an individual deceased person and subjecting the character of Sherlock Holmes to groundless criticism."<br />
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<h3>
Ouja board, long associated with paranormal beliefs, dictates complaints one letter at a time</h3>
"He was pretty steamed up for sure. It took almost two hours to write it all down. He wants them to sneeze and desist, but I’m pretty sure the sneeze part is a typo," said Planchette.<br />
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Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, Professor Challenger, and author of  <i>The Lost World</i>, died in 1930 after a long career as a doctor, soldier, statesman and writer.  "He also wanted to know why no one is interested in <i>Sir Nigel</i>, whatever that is,” said Planchette.<br />
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<br />
More details of this astonishing story as it develops <a href="https://burtwolder.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/if-true-astonishing-news/" target="_blank">can be found here</a>.<br />
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Conan Doyle Sues Own Estate from Beyond the Grave

"opening a grave without the consent of the next-of-kin" [HOUN] Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, has s...

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by Third Pillar

The Scandalous Sherlock Holmes Copyright Issue

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"They are not very hard to deceive" [LAST]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCXH3pBPg9WYk3HXfekrp_teT2D2ezZnvqG2ID8nSoJZRRF2sd_rRDpPxVHWnGWbI_pZ94Clm2RQ36bkpiHevfo5TxjLJWPQJ-ao7SrVRGxWOISuzq0g3p1ymW_NFfQshevxiZTNP5n8c/s1600/Copyright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCXH3pBPg9WYk3HXfekrp_teT2D2ezZnvqG2ID8nSoJZRRF2sd_rRDpPxVHWnGWbI_pZ94Clm2RQ36bkpiHevfo5TxjLJWPQJ-ao7SrVRGxWOISuzq0g3p1ymW_NFfQshevxiZTNP5n8c/s640/Copyright.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Much has <a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/acd/copyright.html" target="_blank">already been written about Andrea Plunket</a> (see Sherlockian.net), the woman who claims that she holds the rights to the name Sherlock Holmes and the stories, and who repeatedly has been told in court that she doesn't. But it is one thing to claim something, and it is another to have people actually buying licenses from you - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.VbmbF_lViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">as the Conan Doyle Estate found out last year</a>.<br />
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It is true that Plunket has registered a number of trademarks concerning Sherlock Holmes, but strong doubts remain that these trademarks can be used to demand license payments from publishers when they want to publish Sherlock Holmes pastiches. However, many have accepted her trademark claims and believed that she is the copyright holder of Sherlock Holmes, and among them are some major book publishers, e.g. Penguin Books, Simon & Schuster and Oxford University Press.<br />
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The Case of the Confused Copyright starts in the 1950s with Sheldon Reynolds, an American TV producer who was contacted by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sons, Adrian and Denis, and after Denis' persuasive dinners in Paris, Reynolds agreed on buying a license for the Sherlock Holmes TV rights, and thereafter made a TV series in 1954 with Ronald Howard playing the great detective.<br />
<br />
<h3>
"You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins" [REDH]</h3>
We move on to the mid 1970s. Sheldon Reynolds was thinking about making a new Sherlock Holmes TV series and for that reason he contacted the copyright holder. At that time the copyright holder had for a few years been the Baskervilles Investments Ltd, which was owned by Princess Nina Mdivani Conan Doyle Harwood. She had been married to Denis Conan Doyle, who died in 1955, and then remarried his secretary (who was not really his secretary, but rather Nina's protégé) Tony Harwood. She was definitely not a princess, but she had claimed to be that all since the 1920s (along with her siblings, all of them "princesses" and "princes" who had fled from Georgia). The fascinating story of "<a href="http://wwd.com/eye/people/mdivanis-the-marrying-kind-3595202/" target="_blank">the Marrying Mdivanis</a>," who became famous for marrying the richest and most famous of heiresses and film stars, is unfortunately beyond the focus of this article.<br />
<br />
Reynolds contacted the Baskervilles Investments Ltd, only to find out that the company was held by a receiver, Mr William G. Mackey, appointed by the Royal Bank of Scotland. And Mr Mackey wanted to sell the complete Conan Doyle literary estate. So Sheldon Reynolds didn't walk away from the meeting with just a license to make a new TV series, but he decided to buy the whole estate. However, he didn't have any money. But his wife Andrea had. Or rather her mother, who had inherited a fortune from her late husband, an heir of Pfizer chemicals.<br />
<br />
For the next few years, Sheldon and Andrea Reynolds - together with her parents - ruled over the Sherlock Holmes copyright, until it ran out, fifty years after the death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A new copyright act had by then come into use in the US, which made it possible for Conan Doyle's only surviving child, Dame Jean Conan Doyle, to get the copyright back for some stories that were still in US copyright.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-u31i6APUnHAxltFylD8I1RxPgID_4UPW9c-7Fyc0IySk_Qp0S9K9t1JwUo3B5fpz1d9PkoMRk06usgtFvUHJm5apU3ovM0OYPvELyHHEwmjC51TjPdRd8S_LLEHlw880HVqWDUfWzOl/s1600/Logo+-+ACD.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-u31i6APUnHAxltFylD8I1RxPgID_4UPW9c-7Fyc0IySk_Qp0S9K9t1JwUo3B5fpz1d9PkoMRk06usgtFvUHJm5apU3ovM0OYPvELyHHEwmjC51TjPdRd8S_LLEHlw880HVqWDUfWzOl/s320/Logo+-+ACD.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
"no claim on it at all" [SHOS] </h3>
And this is where it starts to get complicated. Andrea Reynolds, who nowadays is remarried as Andrea Plunket, says that a number of juridical errors were made when forcing her to give away the remaining copyright to Dame Jean. In the late 1990s, after the death of Dame Jean, Andrea Plunket started to sue companies who used Sherlock Holmes without paying her. She always lost in court. But that didn't keep her from continuing to run something that she called the <a href="http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/" target="_blank">Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate</a> and claim on her web page:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson, Mrs. Hudson, Professor Challenger, Brigadier Gerard and the Hound of the Baskervilles among others are trademarked by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Estate. Use of any character or any book not in the public domain for any purpose whatsoever is prohibited without a license from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate." </blockquote>
The web page is now under re-construction, so this text is from the old web page. It's a mix of trademark and copyright claims.<br />
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The trademark business is a complicated one, and it is difficult to completely protect a name like Sherlock Holmes with a trademark. A blog post from the <a href="http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/Blog/detail.aspx?g=645b6180-c549-4a61-8945-2a4239865fb2" target="_blank">World Trademark Review</a> tells more about the Plunket trademark case and her company Arthur Conan Doyle Characters Ltd.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg685TywvCZPFJO4xR6mOMF6IsQMxFQWcbyuf20XFcuUmp4E6WAtsRP4EKJ52ktvRVmMI2e5LQ-dyeoN7VfLJ08Q1Pt8pN4F3jJiRCuicNbsDktZ083I24RFpTDmjRsBcepFMhgzguu_oat/s1600/logo+-+CDE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg685TywvCZPFJO4xR6mOMF6IsQMxFQWcbyuf20XFcuUmp4E6WAtsRP4EKJ52ktvRVmMI2e5LQ-dyeoN7VfLJ08Q1Pt8pN4F3jJiRCuicNbsDktZ083I24RFpTDmjRsBcepFMhgzguu_oat/s1600/logo+-+CDE.jpg" /></a></div>
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The <a href="http://www.conandoyleestate.com/index.php/copyright/" target="_blank">Conan Doyle Estate Ltd</a> - whom you may remember from <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/%23FreeSherlock#.Vbmg1_lVikp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">its recent legal battle</a> with Leslie Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") - warns people about Andrea Plunket on its web page. One of its issues is that so many publishers accept Andrea Plunket's copyright claims at face value and believe that they are buying a legitimate license from her, often through her British agent Jonathan Clowes Ltd. It is not far-fetched to believe, thanks to the evidence presented, that a license from Plunket is totally worthless.<br />
<br />
I have no insight at all into the money being paid, but I can clearly see that Jonathan Clowes and Andrea Plunket are mentioned on the copyright pages or in the acknowledgements of many books. And it's probably a good guess that money has been involved, since that is the aim of their business. We should also remember that outside the U.S., money never has to be paid for a license to write about Sherlock Holmes or to publish Conan Doyle's stories. There is no trademark or copyright stopping that. In the U.S., the situation was previously rather more complicated, until recently when <a href="http://ihose.co/freesherlock" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leslie Klinger succeeded</a> in his lawsuit against the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. - with a few exceptions - couldn't force publishers to pay a license to publish Sherlock Holmes pastiches.<br />
<br />
<h3>
"a question which has puzzled many an expert" [STUD]</h3>
So which authors and publishers have believed in Andrea Plunket's copyright and trademark claim? A quick search through Google Books gives an interesting list.<br />
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It's not surprising to find some self-published books on such a list. The author pseudonym Radkris, who has written <i>The Adventure of Black Drop</i>, published by AuthorHouse in 2011, mentions that the characters are used with permission from Clowes and Plunket - and actually also from Jon Lellenberg at the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQD8-q_OAadRgFwtH_lyVlOnUlknO80XxSoXAw8tobhQNlGnSpQvWe0frnlXSbtAkLnADOH2Xt0739xnAIzQmd-2aqok-2urCVL8JTpyYf2fmEKco4fMckn2FYzxRHFHyhZpKYvMWAy33v/s1600/51gLPl4S40L._SX321_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQD8-q_OAadRgFwtH_lyVlOnUlknO80XxSoXAw8tobhQNlGnSpQvWe0frnlXSbtAkLnADOH2Xt0739xnAIzQmd-2aqok-2urCVL8JTpyYf2fmEKco4fMckn2FYzxRHFHyhZpKYvMWAy33v/s320/51gLPl4S40L._SX321_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.mxpublishing.com/category/Sherlock+Holmes+Books" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> - the biggest purveyor of Sherlock Holmes pastiches at the moment - published Kieran Lyne's <i>The Last Confession of Sherlock Holmes</i> in 2014. From the Acknowledgements page: "The characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are used here by the kind permission of Jonathan Clowes Ltd, on behalf of Andrea Plunket, Director of the Arthur Conan Doyle Trademark (EU)." However, on the copyright page it says: "Use of the Sherlock Holmes characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by permission of Conan Doyle Estate Ltd, www.conandoyleestate.co.uk". The matter is indeed complicated.<br />
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In 2012, the British independent publisher Robert Hale published <i>Sherlock Holmes and the Queen of Diamonds</i> by Steve Hayes and David Whitehead. Holmes and Watson are used with the kind permission of Clowes/Plunket. That is also the case in the Hale book <i>Sherlock Holmes at the Breakfast Table</i> by L. F. E. Coombs (2013).<br />
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It is a surprise to find Oxford University Press among the publishers who have accepted Andrea Plunket as the copyright holder - and has done so twice! In 2000 they published <i>The Book of Heaven: An Anthology of Writings from Ancient to Modern Times</i>, edited by Carol Zaleski and Philip Zaleski. Among the texts is an excerpt from Conan Doyle's <i>The Land of Mist</i>. Reprinted by kind permission of Jonathan Clowes Ltd., London, on behalf of Andrea Plunket, Administrator of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Copyrights.<br />
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In the same year, 2000, Oxford University Press published <i>The Oxford Book of Detective Stories</i>, edited by Patricia Craig. "The Blue Carbuncle" was included and again with a permission from Clowes and Plunket.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd69-CI7iQGJKnfnZTcMVkIxn2avP6jDf0igtbTmgDAavTOWkUBaBB30uAjjKi3gWgQM9Obj6rzIkFNGZvQ6McVC-x3YhrK0L1Tji2Kr-oqYY1KNjQaz8K6AVVnAr0IOtnlpcGE8PfNr1m/s1600/oxford-book-of-detective-stories.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd69-CI7iQGJKnfnZTcMVkIxn2avP6jDf0igtbTmgDAavTOWkUBaBB30uAjjKi3gWgQM9Obj6rzIkFNGZvQ6McVC-x3YhrK0L1Tji2Kr-oqYY1KNjQaz8K6AVVnAr0IOtnlpcGE8PfNr1m/s320/oxford-book-of-detective-stories.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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Other anthologies etc. mentioning permissions from Clowes/Plunket are <i>Jesus: Authors Take Sides</i> (HarperCollins, 1999; from Conan Doyle's "My Religion"), <i>Wildest Dreams: An Anthology of Drug-Related Literature</i> (Arktos Media, 2014), <i>Authors in Depth: Gold Level</i> (Prentice Hall, 2000), <i>The Practical Guide to Writing</i> (Pearson Education Canada, 2007), and <i>Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes</i> (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2002).<br />
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I find it a little bit sad to find such a great author as Robert Ryan on the list. His <i>Dead Man's Land</i> is a really good Doctor Watson story. In the Acknowledgements he writes:<br />
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"Very early in our discussions about writing a WWI historical thriller, my editor, Maxine Hitchcock, came up with the idea of a detective in the trenches, and had the patience and tenacity to wait until I had worked out it had to be a doctor and a famous one at that. David Miller, my clear-headed agent, then pointed out that Dr Watson has been trademarked by the Conan Doyle Estate. So thanks to him and to Olivia Guest of Jonathan Clowes, which administers the estate. She listened while I pitched the idea over the telephone, and supported its progress through to permission being granted." </blockquote>
A permission that, as we have seen, was rather worthless. The book was published by Simon & Schuster in 2013. On one of the first pages of the book, there is a "Note from the author" telling about the permission Ryan has been given to use the character Doctor Watson.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKpbnq632V1pA3lN0n_vz_mxH4H10P_RWK_mvTrf4XbWfjTFu6rs6xHd6wPYqBFgdJhJBkL4TgDyOQZU0XqdWl9X1Hm2oUbyr7wofUWDbQ1F0cTDeJHYG7kXSO-Y6qaIwzNHvpEVlczZz/s1600/9781849839570_200.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKpbnq632V1pA3lN0n_vz_mxH4H10P_RWK_mvTrf4XbWfjTFu6rs6xHd6wPYqBFgdJhJBkL4TgDyOQZU0XqdWl9X1Hm2oUbyr7wofUWDbQ1F0cTDeJHYG7kXSO-Y6qaIwzNHvpEVlczZz/s1600/9781849839570_200.jpeg" /></a></div>
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In a preface for <i>The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes</i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Robert Ryan wrote more about the process of getting the permission:<br />
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"And so we started on the road to <i>Dead Man's Land</i>, the story of the good doctor's adventures in World War One. But there was one fly in this petroleum jelly ointment, in that Dr Watson has been trademarked by the Conan Doyle Estate, along with Holmes, Moriarty and Professor Challenger (although the tales themselves are all technically out of copyright in this country). So it seemed worthwhile getting the Conan Doyle Estate's blessing. I contacted Olivia Guest at Jonathan Clowes Agency (which represents the ACD estate), who asks me to pitch the story (at that point rather sketchy) over the telephone. She liked the concept enough to take it to Andrea Plunket who rejoices in the title Administrator of the Conan Doyle Copyrights and Director of the EU Trademarks. After a few tense weeks I received a green light." </blockquote>
I don't think the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/books/19sherlock.html?_r=3" target="_blank">especially happy about the confusion</a> that makes Ryan use their name for Plunket's company. He evidently has no idea that there is another, true Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.<br />
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The list of authors and publishers who have paid money to Clowes/Plunket is probably much longer. These are just the examples I have found at Google Books.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5o6YcS1nrqqe3xsyHvSZpdxRsgvf1fJxu7xV48xpcvvnELxOJ6guKtl2uMw9fzx0N8hq6SvcSPGPgmj5Mf1eOf-qcyzR4AUCs-X77DiCckMT0niVzBxh0nN9oF8bw1UuaPXzKB7QRfkas/s1600/Copyright+c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5o6YcS1nrqqe3xsyHvSZpdxRsgvf1fJxu7xV48xpcvvnELxOJ6guKtl2uMw9fzx0N8hq6SvcSPGPgmj5Mf1eOf-qcyzR4AUCs-X77DiCckMT0niVzBxh0nN9oF8bw1UuaPXzKB7QRfkas/s640/Copyright+c.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/7Efws7" target="_blank">opensource.com (Flickr)</a></td></tr>
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But maybe the most exceptional book to be found on the list is <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>, published by <b>Penguin Books</b> in 2011 (a reprint of the 1981 edition). In the book the following text is found:<br />
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"Copy<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">right <span style="background-color: white;">©</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> </span>the Copyright holders of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works, reproduced by kind permission of Jonathan Clowes, Ltd, London, on behalf of Andrea Plunket. Trustee and Administrator. All rights reserved." </span></blockquote>
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This text is not found in the 1981 edition. Penguin, with their long history of Conan Doyle books, should not make such a mistake. And they should indeed know that there is no copyright protection of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, wherever in the world they wish to publish it. And that is a minor scandal.<br />
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(Thanks to my Twitter friends <a href="http://twitter.com/jankathecat">@jankathecat</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/raywilcockson">@raywilcockson</a> for research help!)<br />
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<i> Image source: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/9RQRd5">Christopher Dombres (Flickr)</a></i><br />
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--<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>