#the adventure of the veiled lodger

[thelastofthebookworms]

For more polls, see my pinned post.

[thealieninhiding]

PSA Sherlock Holmes is already Public Domain. (in 2022)

Edit: Happy Public Domain Day / Happy New Year.

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In the UK and many other countries all of the canon has been public domain for decades. On January 1st 2023 aka Public Domain Day "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" and "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" last two Sherlock Holmes works by Doyle still protected by copyright enter the public domain in the United States. The consequences of that are as follows: you can now adapt, rewrite, remix, make derivatives of those last Casebook stories and any elements within. That is it.

The Conan Doyle Estate Ltd has lost lawsuits over the fact that Sherlock, the characters, and any and all elements of the books in the public domain can be used to create works.

You can right now legally make, sell, publish derivative work of Holmes stories (except the last 2), make original stories or any and all characters (not introduced in the last 2 stories) and have them interact in any way, shipping to your hearts content

You cannot now nor in January legally make derivative works of the still copyrighted adaptation, original material from the BBC, Guy Ritchie, Enola Holmes, pastiches or any other source is protected.

This post was brought to you by

🌈Autistic Special Interests🌈

and the inability to know if tumblr posters are serious in thinking that it’s important to allow legal Holmes/Watson creative work. Some people are definitely confused about the PD status of Holmes so hopefully this clears that up.

[dailyholmes]

"Holmes sat upon the floor like some strange Buddha, with crossed legs, the books all round him, and one open upon his knees." The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger. Published in The Strand Magazine. Frank Wiles, 1927

Source

[sigmaleph]

the "sherlock holmes wasn't allowed to show emotions until yersterday" thing was never true except to the extent the meme of it made it true

by which i mean: sherlock holmes, the character, has been out of copyright for ages. some specific stories about him only came into the public domain in the past couple years, the last ones doing so in Public Domain Day 2023, i.e. yesterday, but the character has been in the public domain for much longer[1].

the doyle estate doesn't like this very much. they want to own the character of sherlock holmes and have everyone making a sherlock holmes adaptation pay them money for it, which many of them do[2]. so when someone doesn't pay them, they threaten to sue. presumably both for the money and because they don't want anyone else getting ideas.

there's two notable cases here. one is from 2013: someone writes some sherlock holmes stories without paying for licensing, the doyle estate says "nobody is going to sell your book because we work with all the big retailers to prevent unlicensed holmes stories from being sold", they go in front of a judge and say "hey can we get a declaratory judgement that they can't sue us over this because the character is in the public domain?"

the doyle estate's argument here is that the character isn't in the public domain. because there are later stories still under copyright, and those later stories continue to develop holmes' character, the whole thing is under copyright. judge says lol no. the later sherlock holmes stories are under copyright, the character itself is not. doyle estate appeals and loses.

the second notable case is the enola holmes one, the one from where 'sherlock holmes can't show emotions or respect women' comes from. someone writes a book series about sherlock holmes' kid sister called enola holmes, it gets popular, netflix makes a movie. doyle estate smells money in the water because they also didn't pay for licensing and they sue.

since the thing they tried last time didn't work, their new angle is: this sherlock holmes adaptation is using aspects of the character that only were developed in the later, still-under-copyright stories. like uh... [loud noises of scrambling to make up a justification] having... emotions...?

this is a terribly flimsy argument, it doesn't work either, and they lose[3]. again. it was never a real constraint unlicensed sherlock holmes adaptations had to work with. it never had any power, because it was nonsense. nothing changed yesterday regarding sherlock holmes' ability to show emotions.

but the doyle estate has been making money off people thinking being sued is a hassle for a while now. their real power is people thinking they need to ask permission, and it had been decisively proven that they don't. which, i guess is why the meme bothered me. by saying 'sherlock holmes isn't allowed to show emotions until the last stories enter the public domain' you give them power they want and don't really have.

yesterday, the last flimsy justifications the doyle estate was clinging onto for dear life finally vanished. you can even rewrite the adventure of the veiled lodger to have holmes and watson make out in between every sentence and nobody can stop you. they'll try something to continue to have a reason to exist, who knows what, but it'll have no legal force and hopefully everyone will know it. maybe they'll just keep the licensing page up and hope nobody actually checks that they don't need to pay, it's worked so far.

[1] this post will focus on the US law aspect of it, which matters most for various things (mostly: dealing with companies headquartered in the US to distribute your stuff). the laws in e.g. the UK are different and there even the last few stories have been in the public domain for over twenty years

[2] their licensing page proudly displays any number of recent holmes adaptations which didn't actually have to give them a cent, but, y'know, easier to just pay them than figure it out in court.

[3] suit is dismissed with prejudice by stipulation of both parties. there's no judge actually saying 'wow that is complete nonsense' but like. enola holmes didn't have to pay licensing, is the outcome.

[holmesillustrations]

Heading into the quarterfinals, here's an update to the status of each story collection:

from Adventures: Case of Identity and Copper Beeches are now out. Redheaded League, Twisted Lip, have made it to QFs.

from Memoirs: Silver Blaze is now out. Cardboard Box, and Resident Patient are in QFs.

from Return: Empty House is now out, no stories remain from Return.

from Last Bow: No stories remain from Last Bow.

from the Casebook: Lion's Mane and Veiled Lodger are now out, Three Garridebs, Illustrious Client, and Retired Colourman, are in QFs

from the novels: Valley of Fear is now out, none of the novels remain.

and as always, the bracket graphic itself has been updated here <3

[hannah-catkin-artses]

The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger is a Sherlock Holmes story that has been in my mind for a long, long time. It's the first time I remember meeting with the concept of suicide, though I think I knew about it before, for I was around eight years old and don't remember it being a great revelation to me. But it's this passage:

“Yes,” said the woman, “the case is closed.” We had risen to go, but there was something in the woman’s voice which arrested Holmes’s attention. He turned swiftly upon her. “Your life is not your own,” he said. “Keep your hands off it.”

The artwork below is under the cut for suicidal imagery(?)

[thebeesareback]

Poll to determine the most evil Sherlock Holmes villain from the original stories

Part six: The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

OK! So please vote for your favourite. I've done other polls with villains from the other short stories and the novels, and when the results are in I'll put the winners in a poll together

[queerholmcs]

Let’s go 18 and 19 for the Sherlock Holmes ask game

ough you had to pick these two..... i was going to try to keep this acd-oriented but, truly, there's only so much i can do....

18. Favourite piece of Sherlock Holmes related trivia?

did you know that arwel specifically commissioned the skull painting for 221b as seen in s1-3 and then for s4 created an entirely new skull print based on the image of arthur conan doyle himself and text from the stories? truly this keeps me up at night. ANYWAY!

19. Favourite Sherlock Holmes supporting/one off character?

i'm not going to say mycroft holmes. that's too obvious. i could also start naming every murderer and/or client called john, james, or jack (thank you @victorianpining sgdjdhskdh) but—again—far too obvious. so the client that lives rent-free in my head is the woman from the adventure of the veiled lodger. i won't elaborate here but i will say that (1) that story hits and (2) i do have s4 brainworms. do with that information what you will. (it is such a good one, though...)

sherlock holmes ask game

[kierrasreads]

The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger (The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes #10) by Arthur Conan Doyle Review

Plot

Sherlock Holmes is summoned by a woman whose face, years before, was horribly disfigured during an attack by a circus lion. Upon his arrival with Watson, the woman, her face perpetually hidden by a heavy veil, tells them she knows she does not have long to live and wishes to finally reveal what really happened on that awful day.

Discussion

I know I’ve said it before, but this one is different! There is no mystery to solve, instead, Sherlock and Holmes turn into therapists of sorts. Mrs. Ronder finally got some justice!

Rating

4/5

[toa-greatmind-nothingislittle]

tw for mention of suicide

Randomly I’m filled with the need to let every person possible know that the “your life is not your own��� line did not come from BBC Sherlock, but rather is in the original canon works. Sherlock says it in The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger and while, sure, there are definitely problems with that approach to suicide, it meant a lot to tiny me to read those lines from my role model in my favorite book. And maybe I’m very bitter about people assuming BBC Sherlock came up with it when I’m just waiting for the day I can meet Steven Moffat in a Denny’s parking lot

[meanstreetspodcasts]

Episode 524 - Everybody Loves a Clown (Casebook of Gregory Hood, Sherlock Holmes, & Lives of Harry Lime)

Okay, maybe not everybody loves clowns, but I bet you'll enjoy these three old time radio mysteries featuring the circus' most colorful performers. First, Gregory Hood solves the murder of "The Sad Clown" (originally aired on Mutual on October 7, 1946). Then, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate deadly doings under the big top in "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" (originally aired on Mutual on June 20, 1948). And finally, Orson Welles catches up with his old friend - a smuggler, a ladies' man, and a clown - in "The Painted Smile," a syndicated episode from The Lives of Harry Lime.

Check out this episode!

[alianoralacanta]

To be clear: all Sherlock Holmes characters are already in the public domain right now. The stories in which they originally appeared will be in the public domain at various times, depending on national law and, in some cases, when they were written. In the UK, copyright on all of the stories expired in 2000 (with a small gap in 1980 due to a delay in renewing the copyright). In Canada and Australia, copyright on all of the stories expired in 1980. In both these cases as well as the UK one, the author’s death is used as the copyright index date). In the USA, copyright on the stories expired in 1998 (except for those published after Arthur Conan Doyle’s death, for which the copyright index date is when those stories were published). OP’s post is because “The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" and "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place“, the last two of these stories, exit copyright in the USA on January 1, 2024. If you live somewhere else, please check your country’s copyright law. While the characters are almost certainly no longer copyrighted, the status of the stories will vary, especially if you’re discussing one of the later ones.

Fun Fact: in one month, all Sherlock Holmes stories hit the public domain and the Conan Doyle Estate can't do shit! I say this for absolutely no reason but also congrats in advance to the happy couple.

[simplicii]

HOLMES ADVENTURES

◄► THE ADVENTURE OF THE VEILED LODGER .. You say that Mrs. Ronder has been your lodger for seven years and that you have (only once seen her face) .. She did not (know درى) how she looks like .. Now, she (knows عرف) her by sight .. And I wish to God I had not!” said Mrs. Merrilow .. Our milkman got a glimpse of her once peeping out of the upper window, and he dropped his tin and the milk all over…

[holmesillustrations]

Since i didnt do live updates for eliminations in the last round here's a summary of the current status:

from Adventures: Boscombe Valley, Blue Carbuncle, and Speckled Band are now out. Redheaded League, Case of Identity, Twisted Lip, and Copper Beeches all still have at least 1 in play.

from Memoirs: Reigate Squires, Greek Interpreter, and Final Problem now out. Silver Blaze, Cardboard Box, and Resident Patient still in.

from Return: Dancing Men, Golden Pince-nez, Missing Three-quarter, and Abbey Grange now out. Empty House is the only remaining competitor.

from Last Bow: Dying Detective now out, no stories remain from Last Bow.

from the Casebook: No new stories out, Three Garridebs, Illustrious Client, Lion's Mane, Retired Colourman, and Veiled Lodger remain.

from the novels: Hound of the Baskervilles is out Only Valley of Fear is still in.

[rafflesandholmes]

R.I.P Sahara King

I feel really bad for the lion in "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger."

He was taken from the wild and tortured for the entertainment of humans. Maybe his mother was shot when he was a cub and he was captured, making him easier to train.

With Mrs. Ronder's original plan, she cares nothing for what would happen to the lion. In those days, Sahara King would have been killed for attacking his trainer, but she just sees the lion as a way to save herself. I agree that her husband deserved what he got, but couldn't she think of a way that would leave the innocent lion alone?

Then, of course, things go tragically wrong. The lion is just acting on instinct, but chances are he was killed either to free Mrs. Ronder, as a consequence for attacking his trainers, or because no one could afford to care for him after the attack.