Chapter 64: The Heritage Foundation (Second Update—Please Recommend)

Over the past several years, the Conan Doyle Estate Foundation has spared no effort in protecting the copyright of Sherlock Holmes, collecting substantial licensing fees from countries such as Britain and America. In the past, the Foundation claimed to manage all rights related to Holmes, and asserted that no one could touch them without their certification. Even the producers of the newly released "Detective Holmes"—Hollywood’s Warner Brothers—had to pay a hefty sum.

Conan Doyle had three children, and one son, Adrian, once sold many of his father's works to others. It was not until 1981 that Conan Doyle's daughter reclaimed these copyrights. These rights were subsequently inherited by the Foundation, and given the immense value of the Holmes character, people continue to pay considerable sums each year. Annually, numerous writers try to create works relating to Holmes, but few succeed in publishing them due to the Foundation’s obstacles; they publicly declare that the Holmes character has not entered the public domain in America, and refuse to acknowledge other countries’ claims.

Most of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works were published before 1923, but the last four works in the series came after that date. The wealthy Foundation has always used its power to intimidate others, thriving on sending legal notices and lawsuits. Paying the Foundation to use Holmes-related elements seems to have become industry practice; compared to wealthy film and publishing companies, researchers, enthusiasts, and small publishers can only look on from afar, unable to afford to use, adapt, or reinterpret those elements.

Qin Mu, though unsure whether the Foundation would be interested in distant China, thought it worth a try. Over the years, his English skills had faded, so he resorted to translation software, writing in fits and starts before copying his message into a document. He then went to a long-missed internet cafe, registered a new email account, found the official Foundation contact via Google, and sent his report.

…

Charles Doyle, grandson of Arthur Conan Doyle’s brother Innes, is now in his forties and serves as one of the managers of the Foundation.

Through the Holmes character, Charles has comfortably joined the ranks of millionaires. He sat in his office chair, puffing on a cigar amid clouds of smoke. The recently released "Detective Holmes" was performing well at the box office; although its reputation had plummeted, its first weekend in North America brought in $46 million, and its global performance was impressive. It might set a record for Holmes films’ box office, and commercial success was what mattered—reputation was nothing.

“Looks like I need to push more Holmes film adaptations and make money while the iron is hot,” Charles murmured. “The licensing fee for that comic is much too low—now that Holmes is so popular, the price should go up.”

The Foundation’s workload was actually minimal, and Charles was getting bored; he had already decided to take his newly hired beautiful secretary to the golf course later. Just then, the secretary, dressed in a black suit and skirt, entered in high heels. “Mr. Doyle, we received an email from China today. I thought you might want to know.”

“Let me see. China is a huge market.” Charles Doyle took the printed email from the secretary and glanced over it. The grammar was awkward and riddled with mistakes, but the main points were clear.

“Warner Brothers paid us for the Holmes writing contest, so that shouldn’t be a problem. But if they’re using it for publication, that should warrant a separate fee. Linda, find this publishing company and send them an email—notify them that payment is required before publication, or they’ll be challenging our Foundation.”

Linda gently reminded him, “Mr. Doyle, according to Chinese copyright law, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works published between 1923 and 1927 are only protected for fifty years. By now, they’ve long entered the public domain.”

“No, no, no! As long as any part of Sherlock Holmes is still under copyright protection, all parts should be protected. Even if the literary works enter the public domain, all character images—including Holmes, Watson, Moriarty—must be licensed. Their laws only apply to their own authors; they can’t restrict others.”

To Charles, it was just a minor issue, and he spoke again: “Does the ‘Detective Sherlock’ have an English version? If so, get me a copy.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Doyle, it seems to be only in Chinese. But I’ll contact the publishing company immediately to see if they plan to publish an English edition.”

…

Nanhai Publishing Company is located on China’s second largest island. It is one of the most powerful and comprehensive publishers in the country, capable of nationwide distribution within a week.

On the fifth floor of Xinghua Tower, Zhang Sen from the editorial department was clearing out spam from the contact email, forwarding misplaced manuscripts to the editing team. Suddenly, an all-English email caught his attention.

As a competent editor, Zhang Sen was proficient in English. After reading it carefully, he immediately called for backup.

“Hey, Chen Lei, help me check if this email is really from the Conan Doyle Foundation. It looks like a scam—demanding $5,000 in licensing fees. Are they out of their minds?”

Chen Lei, not far away, was puzzled. He knew the company was about to publish a Holmes-related derivative work; he had researched the issue before, and now the use, adaptation, and reinterpretation of Holmes elements could be done freely.

“It’s probably fake. Even if it’s real, just ignore it. The complete Holmes works can be published for free now, and we’re only publishing a derivative; it doesn’t matter.”

Zhang Sen, not wanting to miss anything, found Gu Xinxue’s email in the address book and forwarded the message. Five thousand dollars was no small sum—about thirty thousand yuan. He was puzzled; their company’s publication of “Detective Sherlock” hadn’t even been widely promoted yet. How did the Foundation in Europe and America know about it? Could it be that Warner Brothers leaked the news?