Author and lawyer Leslie Klinger has filed a suit in the US federal court against the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate after the Estate recently tried to extract license fees from him. Klinger asks that the court declare that the famous characters of Holmes and Watson are no longer protected by federal copyright laws.
In a statement, Klinger says that the litigation became necessary after the Doyle estate attempted to extract a license fee for a new book he was co-editing, In the Company of Sherlock Holmes with author Laurie R. King, the bestselling author of the "Mary Russell" series of mysteries that also feature Sherlock Holmes. "The Conan Doyle Estate contacted our publisher and implied that if the Estate wasn't paid a license fee, they'd convince the major distributors not to sell the book," he stated. "Our publisher was, understandably, concerned, and told us that the book couldn't come out unless this was resolved."
In a statement, Klinger says that the litigation became necessary after the Doyle estate attempted to extract a license fee for a new book he was co-editing, In the Company of Sherlock Holmes with author Laurie R. King, the bestselling author of the "Mary Russell" series of mysteries that also feature Sherlock Holmes. "The Conan Doyle Estate contacted our publisher and implied that if the Estate wasn't paid a license fee, they'd convince the major distributors not to sell the book," he stated. "Our publisher was, understandably, concerned, and told us that the book couldn't come out unless this was resolved."