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I am not a lawyer, but I am pretty sure that is the case. *NM* Ghavrel Send a noteboard - 09/12/2010 06:13:11 PM
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.)
"We feel safe when we read what we recognise, what does not challenge our way of thinking.... a steady acceptance of pre-arranged patterns leads to the inability to question what we are told."
~Camilla

Ghavrel is Ghavrel is Ghavrel

*MySmiley*

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Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Copyright Law - 09/12/2010 05:50:11 PM 1057 Views
I am not a lawyer, but I am pretty sure that is the case. *NM* - 09/12/2010 06:13:11 PM 241 Views
You mean like Maurice Leblanc did in 1906? - 09/12/2010 06:30:10 PM 632 Views
I did a bit of sleuthing. - 10/12/2010 12:06:38 AM 1059 Views
You're my hero. - 10/12/2010 12:26:19 AM 869 Views
There are quite a few - 10/12/2010 01:44:24 AM 761 Views
You might want to ask an actual lawyer. - 21/12/2010 01:08:15 AM 689 Views

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