To write stories just using the earliest Holmes material is a crime against Holmes and art in general, according to Doyle estate attorney William Zieske. According to them, Holmes continued to evolve, becoming more mellow and closer friends with Watson. However, the Doyle Estate argued that copyright protection should extend from the last collection of stories, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1927-which would mean that the character could not be used without permission until 2022. In fact, that was the argument in court of Leslie Klinger, a Holmes scholar and enthusiast who intends to publish a book of original Holmes stories by various authors titled In the Company of Sherlock Holmes in the fall.
Even in the U.S., where copyright has been extended and extended and extended again, protection usually applies only 95 years from the date of publication, meaning Holmes and Watson should be well out of it. The original novel, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887-more than 125 years ago. You could be forgiven for thinking that Sherlock Holmes was out of copyright already. Sherlock Holmes has been adapted and modified so many times that it’s easy to miss some versions, as is the case of Herlock Sholmes, who doesn’t differ much from the original version of the detective, even if his name makes him sound like a joke.Adele’s Shocking Attack on Complacency Spencer Kornhaber In it, and just like in Leblanc’s stories, the detective kept his basic characteristics as a private detective from London, but due to the game’s steampunk aesthetic, he’s physically different from classic versions of the character.
Once all copyright protection had expired, Sherlock Holmes returned with his real name and accompanied by Watson and Lestrade in the PC 3D adventure Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsène Lupin, released in 2008.Īrsène Lupin and Herlock Holmes, along with other literary characters like Abraham Van Helsing and Victor Frankenstein, appear in the Japanese video game Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth. The detective returned in two more stories found in Volume 2: “Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmes” (which in the U.S was published in 1910 under the title “The Blonde Lady” and with the detective’s name as “Holmlock Shears” and John Watson as “Wilson”) and “L’Aiguille creuse”. In it, Lupin met an aged Holmes, and while he was presented with his real name when the story was published, it had to be changed after legal objections from Doyle himself, and so when the story was collected in book form, it appeared as “Herlock Sholmes”. Lupin met Sherlock Holmes in the short story “Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late”, also published in Je sais tout. This French thief came face to face with the Great Detective himself in 1906, but he had to go through a slight name change. Lupin is a force of good who operates on the wrong side of the law, and those he defeats are worse villains than he is. The character went on to appear in a total of 17 novels and 39 novellas, and just like Sherlock Holmes, he has appeared in various works from other artists.
He made his debut in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine Je sais tout, and his first story was titled “The Arrest of Arsène Lupin”.
Related: Sherlock Holmes' Original Death Was A Bigger Deal Than People RealizeĪrséne Lupin (originally called Arsène Lopin, until a local politician of the same name protested) is a gentleman thief and master of disguise created by Maurice Leblanc in 1905. This has also given some the opportunity of adding the famous detective to their own stories with characters not related to Holmes and Conan Doyle, as is the case of Arséne Lupin and Herlock Sholmes. Due to how the rights to Sherlock Holmes are distributed, various artists have been allowed to do what they want with the character, but to an extent, as there are still some limitations. The popularity of Sherlock Holmes has also driven various artists to take him and other characters from Conan Doyle’s books and give them new adventures, while others have changed him completely or have expanded on his backstory, as is the case of Nancy Springer and the book series The Enola Holmes Mysteries. The Great Detective continues to be a very popular and beloved character and one who has been adapted to different media. Created by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes made his debut in A Study in Scarlet in 1887, and he became so popular, he appeared in a total of four novels and 56 short stories. Sherlock Holmes has been adapted to all types of media for over a century, and as such, he hasn’t been safe from changes depending on the genre, the style of the artist, or even legal issues. A good example of that is Herlock Sholmes, a French parody/version of the detective who appeared in the stories of another French character.