The Power of Public Copyright
Posted on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 in: Misc., Writing
Was anyone else really, really frightened when they heard that the BBC was making a 21st century version of Sherlock Holmes?
Was anyone else really, really relieved to discover that actually, it was good? Oodles of fun, and strangely both respectful and innovative. Full marks!
Authors, you see, are starting to be dead long enough. When a writer dies, a clock starts ticking, and 70 years after their death, an alarm bell sounds that proclaims ‘here is their work! Have it for free and go crazy…’ Thus in the last 12 months the world has gone a bit Sherlock Holmes-tastic as across the globe people wake up to the realisation that not only can they now go treading all over these characters, but they can make them do kung fu too and get away with. Thankfully, in the case of Holmes it’s currently been a mixture of huge fun and surprisingly reverent… in a strange sticking-to-the-spirit-if-n0t-the-plot kinda way… although needless to say no movie will ever exceed Basil the Great Mouse Detective for sheer adventurous/detecting kaplunk. (Not a real word. But a good one.) But hang on in there and soon other estates will start coming up too as authors start being dead long enough… D.H. Lawrence (be afraid), T.E. Lawrence (also be afraid, but in a better way) and George Orwell (respect) could wake up in the next few years to discover that their amorous characters are conducting epic love affairs against the background of world war one in the Arabian Peninsula while totalitarian powers chase them with rats through an underbelly of socialist dissent…
Let’s just hope that Steven Moffat is there to catch them when that moment comes…
5 Comments so far - click here to join in
I heartily agree! I was a bit wary of watching it, but I thoroughly enjoyed nearly every moment! I think I worship Moffat just a little bit.
How do you feel about people tinkering with your work after your death?
KateGJuly 30, 2010
Someone much cleverer than me – I think it was the author of the English Patient – was once asked what he thought the film had done for his books. His answer was something along the lines of ‘absolutely nothing. They’re still sat there on the shelves just as I wrote them.’ Which is, as authorial answers to the prospect of change and mis-interpretation goes, an excellent one.
daveyboondJuly 31, 2010
I think you should have written: George Orwell (be afraid):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm.....nimal-farm
Think of the worst possible interpretation of the words orwell-elton-john-animal-farm and you’re probably on the money.
AdrianHAugust 2, 2010
Two episodes into the run and I’m loving it. It’s done with respect, as Kate says, but there’s a certain amount of fun being had with it as well. Since I’ve had a whizzy smartphone with various ebook apps I’ve been downloading lots of free books, in particular the Sherlock Holmes stories, which I’ve never read before, and there’s a lightness of touch in the stories as well, a wry smile here and there, which hasn’t always been apparent in TV or film versions. I did actually like the recent big Hollywood action fest version as well. Looking forward to many more episodes.
Catherine HillAugust 4, 2010
I’m enjoying Sherlock, although I felt the second one dragged a little in the middle.
The casting is excellent. Martin Freeman is so good at looking put-upon.
Sherlock seems rather Doctorish, I suppose that’s because he’s an energetic, larger-than-life character who’s smarter than everyone else around him. Plus both actors have that tall and slightly-gangly thing going on.
Mark Gatiss was a good choice, and I was fairly certain he was Mycroft Holmes from his first scene. Then again I’ve read the story with Mycroft, but not any of the Moriarty stuff, so I’m not so sure what to expect from Holmes’ nemesis.
July 29, 2010