Enola Holmes

The Conan Doyle Estate recently filed a lawsuit to protect its copyrights from unauthorized use in the new movie Enola Holmes. 

It is only the second time in forty years that the Estate or its predecessors have been forced to seek the protection of the courts.

The Estate believes every writer’s original authorship should be respected, and if ten copyrighted short stories by one of the world’s most original authors can be copied without consequence, no writer’s work is safe.

While we welcome and support brilliant creative projects like Enola Holmes, mutual respect for copyrights is foundational to fostering creativity.

Conan Doyle’s ten copyrighted stories contain significant new artistic material about Sherlock Holmes, taking the character in a major new direction.

Many contemporary stories about Sherlock Holmes rightly wish to use these copyrighted changes. They are a powerful part of the character’s story—particularly in today’s world.

The Estate looks forward to 2023 when all of Sir Arthur’s works will be in the public domain, but until then believes his work, should be used only with permission so that the creativity of all writers is respected.