Netflix settles copyright spat over Sherlock Holmes’ emotions
Streaming platform Netflix has settled a copyright dispute which centred on the emotional changes of fictional character Sherlock Holmes.
The US District Court for the District of New Mexico confirmed the lawsuit’s dismissal on Friday, December 18. Quirky private detective Sherlock Holmes was first created by Scottish scientist and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1800s.
Although most of Doyle’s work is already in the public domain in the US, having been published prior to 1923, ten of his short stories which were published after 1923 remain protected by copyright. In June 2020, Doyle’s estate filed a complaint against Netflix for copyright infringement. At the centre of the complaint was the film “Enola Holmes”, hosted on Netflix and based on the “Enola Holmes Mysteries”, a collection of books authored by Florida-based Nancy Springer.
Enola Holmes, sister to the famous Sherlock Holmes, is a new character of Springer’s creation. Springer was named alongside Netflix as a defendant in the complaint, as were other parties involved in the production of the “Enola Holmes” film. These included Penguin Random House, which had started publishing the “Enola Holmes” books in the US in 2006.
According to the complaint, Springer’s books feature characters, settings, plots, and story elements from Doyle’s work, both pre-1923 and post-1923. In the post-1923 stories, which are still protected by copyright, Sherlock Holmes “needed to develop human connection and empathy”, the complaint explained.
It said: “Doyle made the surprising artistic decision to have his most famous character—known around the world as a brain without a heart—develop into a character with a heart. Holmes became warmer. He became capable of friendship. He could express emotion. He began to respect women.”
According to Doyle’s estate, Springer’s books make “extensive infringing use of Doyle’s transformation of Holmes from cold and critical to warm, respectful, and kind”. The Netflix film similarly has “substantial similarity to protected elements” of Doyle’s copyright-protected works.
The Doyle estate also owns several US trademarks covering the Sherlock Holmes’ name. However, neither Springer, nor Penguin, nor Netflix requested permission to copy the authorship in the post-1923 stories or to use Sherlock Holmes trademarks, the complaint said.
The Doyle estate asked for the defendants to be permanently enjoined from using the protected IP. It also wanted them to account for and disgorge to the estate all gains and profits derived from the infringement, in addition to statutory damages and other costs.
However, the matter appears to have ended in a settlement. According to Friday’s order, the parties have agreed that the claims asserted in the Doyle estate’s complaint are dismissed with prejudice, with all parties bearing their own costs.
As the terms of the settlement reached between the parties are unknown, fans will have to wait and see whether Netflix will be able to produce any more “Enola Holmes” films.
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