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Sherlock Holmes and a curious case of the heirs who exploited him

Arthur Conan Doyle published 56 Sherlock Holmes stories
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Arthur Conan Doyle

More than a century after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle brought Sherlock Holmes back from the dead because he needed the money, the author’s heirs have been accused of exploiting the fictional detective for financial gain.

An American judge has rebuked the Conan Doyle estate for “extortion” by charging publishers and authors a fee to use Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, when copyright on most of the works in the US has expired.

Weeks after it ruled that an American author could use characters from all but the last ten Sherlock Holmes stories, a US appeals court has criticised the estate

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