I have just published my first novel, titled 'Sherlock Holmes And The Dead Boer At Scotney Castle'.  Deliberately I wrote it in the style of the originals.  Is there a space opening up between Sherlock Holmes as Dr Who - viz certain recent movies - and 'classic' Sherlock Holmes?

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That's a pretty bold challenge, Tim  Personally, I think the current films (which I'd see as more Indiana Jonespunk or something than Dr Who) are a sham.  If they want to do a film like that, why not create characters instead of reducing a known character to something totally, well, out of character?

I'm not a huge Holmesgirl, but read a few as a Kid and liked them.  I liked the Young Sherlock film, too.  But one think I've seen is that there is room for a lot of writing around that particular icon.  Good luck

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the current reincarnations of Sherlock Holmes.  I loved the original stories.  They were one of the truly magical reading experiences of my childhood. I guess we should be happy that people are still doing Sherlock Holmes characters.  At least that might lead young people back to the originals.

Add me to the list, Charles. The steampunk gothic "Lethal Weapon" what-have-you hyper-kinetic version of Holmes left me a bit cold, despite my enjoying Downey, Jr's engaging mania. 

I hate all versions of Sherlock.  For that matter, for me the puzzle-type novels are outdated, and I dislike intensely the "I'm smarter than you are" detective.

A successful crime writer I greatly admire once advised me, "Make your hero the smartest person in the room." I saw and respect his point, but did not entirely agree. I prefer my heroes to do a bit of barging about.

I.J., even the Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock? I loved it.

Don't know it.  Presumably the name SHERLOCK would turn me off. Does he make fun of Sherlock?

I hope you had permission from the Conan Doyle estate.  The Sherlock Holmes name is closely guarded and more than one person has been sued for using it without their approval.

Wouldn't that be public domain by now?   I've read several books with Holmes as a character, in addition to a lot of movies.

Don't know what the law is in Great Britain. Here I think public domain kicks in after 75 or 80 years. We're there with The Maltese Falcon now, right? I'd love to do a sequel with all new characters, maybe descendants of the originals, on the trail of the bird again. Guess I could now.

I'm a big Sherlock fan, the originals and much of the new stuff. Really like the contemporary setting being used now for that new show. Particularly like the police officer who greets Sherlock with: "Hello, Freak."

This NY Times article states that the Sherlock Holmes copyright expires in America in 2023 but that attempts could be made to extend it. It seems it's only still in effect due to a 1976 law that gave heirs a chance to recapture lost rights. In Great Britain Holmes entered the public domain in 1980.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/books/19sherlock.html?pagewanted=all

No.  It is carefully guarded.  The estate now owns the name and other Holmes properties.  Along with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate and the Disney properties, it is one of the most litigious organizations in the literary world.

Literary properties only fall into public domain if the owners neglect them.  The copyright can be renewed as long as it is an on-going enterprise.

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