Spoiler alert: there's not actually a case, I just have a question. If this isn't the right board for it, feel free to move me to the community board.
I've read that the copyright on the canon Holmes stories ran out in Canada in 1980, in the UK in 2000, and that only one of the volumes remains copyrighted in the US. However, does anyone know if the characters themselves are still copyrighted?
What I mean is, can a person, any person, write their own Sherlock Holmes story these days? Can that person attempt to make a profit off of them so long as the stories are original?
(Yes, this means I have an idea I'm playing with.)
I've read that the copyright on the canon Holmes stories ran out in Canada in 1980, in the UK in 2000, and that only one of the volumes remains copyrighted in the US. However, does anyone know if the characters themselves are still copyrighted?
What I mean is, can a person, any person, write their own Sherlock Holmes story these days? Can that person attempt to make a profit off of them so long as the stories are original?
(Yes, this means I have an idea I'm playing with.)
Warder to starry_nite
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Copyright Law
- 09/12/2010 05:50:11 PM
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