Sherlock Holmes becomes public knowledge: what does it mean?

Sherlock Holmes becomes public knowledge

The last two stories of The Sherlock Holmes Notebook, starting from last Sunday, have become public domain together with many others due to the copyright expiration which is involving some of the most important literary publications again this year. known. Not least, in fact, are the two stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the magnificent adventures of the detective consultant appreciated by young and old. The last two stories, however, are not the only literary texts this year to enter the public domain, and among them there is also Virginia Woolf's Trip to the Lighthouse, one of the author's most famous works. Over the years many other books have followed this fate: we are referring to The Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury, The Big Four by Agatha Christie, Mosquitoes by William Faulkner and Men Without Women by Ernest Hemingway. Even music and cinema no longer need prior authorization, such as Seventh Heaven and the song Gully Low Blues by Louis Armstrong.

Sherlock Holmes is probably the most famous case in the public domain

In the case of The Sherlock Holmes Notebook , we are talking about a work protected by copyright for ninety-five years in the United States, while in Europe and the United Kingdom, since 2001, they were all already in the public domain. For those who have never heard of copyright, they should know that it is a regulation that protects any work from replication, plagiarism, improper use and dangerous sharing. However, after this period, which can vary from twenty-three to ninety-five if we refer to the United States, a book or film enters the public domain. What does it mean? It can be shared and used on various occasions by anyone, free from the classic market costs and authorizations, adapted, modified and proposed in any other way and without anyone threatening lawsuits.

In the last hundred years, Sherlock Holmes has been the protagonist of videogames, comics, television series and much more. Certainly, now they will only increase, because it will be easier to adapt and produce films and other productions dedicated to the character without necessarily asking the great-grandchildren and relatives of the Scottish writer for further permits. While his memory was preserved by directors, video game producers and theater actors, they themselves continued to earn something from his artistic heritage. The last two stories still protected by copyright were preserved in the book The Notebook of Sherlock Holmes, originally published in 1927. The measures, unlike in Europe and the United Kingdom, in the United States are more stringent, and the Conan Doyle Estate continued to receive moderate fees over the years, especially after the publication of Enola Holmes and the modern-day television series Sherlock , which starred actor Benedict Cumberbatch, or the animated series Sherlock Holmes' Nose .

In this regard, The Notebook of Sherlock Holmes as well as the other works of Arthur Conan Doyle could have even more than one edition, and this could be excellent news, because it would give the opportunity to many literature experts, especially professors university students, to write prefaces and explanations of the story, arguing and even intervening in some passages. In short, the publishing houses would thus propose an even more complete and clearer work.



The theme of preservation, now increasingly relevant in pop culture especially for centenary works, is often discussed on social media due to the very sensitivity of users on the subject. Indeed, when a work enters the public domain, it can be used more freely. Many works, due to copyright, have been lost over the years and there was no way to recover them. This is due to the prolongation of the various extensions made for certain works, especially silent black and white films, lost due to too stringent policies. For Sherlock Holmes, in short, new cases could open up.