Sherlock Holmes available for preorder to non-Americans

[wshaffer]

The good news: Big Finish Productions new new Sherlock Holmes plays are now available for pre-order, with the first play due out in November.

The bad news: Due to copyright restrictions, they can't legally sell them in the United States.

Yet another illustration of how modern copyright law really isn't equipped to deal with globalization. American fans who want these will find a way to get them. The real losers will be Big Finish, who won't get revenue from a lot of those illegally obtained copies.

I know that the field of Holmes-related copyright and trademark law is arcane enough to practically be a legal specialization in its own right. I'd love to know what the specific issue is here.

Edited to add: A quick Google turned a summary of the Sherlock Holmes copyright situation. Basically, a Holmes-related work is still in copyright in the U.S., and to top it off, the copyright ownership is disputed.

Comments

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is annoying. I would love to have those and would be happy to pay for them. :p

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Due to copyright restrictions, they can't legally sell them in the United States

BUGGERY! I've been looking forward to those.

Fortunately for BF, I've got LJ friends in England, so I can get my mitts on copies in a manner that will get them royalties. But what a pain in the ass!

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Blast!

I knew that the situation with the Holmes estate was complicated (an acquaintance of mine at college got ensnared in the dispute when trying to publish a scientific parody of Holmes), but it's still not sorted out?