What would the Great Detective have Dr. Watson and the Baker Street Irregulars do with this case? On the eve of the 156th anniversary of the birth of Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author’s often litigious estate this week hit director Bill Condon and co-distributors Miramax and Roadside Attractions in federal court with a copyright and trademark infringement complaint over the upcoming Mr. Holmes. The estate wants a plethora of unspecified damages from the director and companies plus Penguin Random House and author Mitch Cullen, and it also wants the Ian McKellen-starring movie stopped in its tracks with an injunction before it comes out in the UK next month and on this side of the pond July 17.
“This action for copyright infringement arises from unauthorized copying by Mitch Cullin—in his novel A Slight Trick of the Mind and in the motion picture Mr. Holmes based on the novel—of original Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Conan Doyle),” says the jury trial seeking May 21 filing in District court in New Mexico (read it here). “The remaining defendants have participated in copying these protected stories in the infringing movie, have published and distributed the infringing novel and motion picture, and have titled the movie so as to confuse consumers and unfairly trade on CDEL’s goodwill.”
Like the movie it is trying to stop from reaching the big screen, the lawsuit centers on the sunset years of Sherlock Holmes. Citing later stories that are still under copyright, the estate claims that plotlines, overcoming a dislike of dogs and other elements like a retired Holmes possessing “a personal warmth and the capacity to express love for the first time” were used in Cullen’s 2005 book and hence the Condon-helmed film the director and Jeffrey Hatcher adapted. That’s the hook on which they hope to hang the hat of their lawsuit. “Conan Doyle also changed Holmes in later life by giving him a gentleness and kindness Holmes did not possess in public domain stories, the complaint says. “The copyrighted mature Holmes is quite unlike the more clinical and purely rational Holmes described in public domain stories.”
(Read the full article at the link above! Happy Birthday ACD! *sigh*)
