For anyone unfamiliar with the legalities of public domain, essentially after a certain number of years either since an artistic work was created or since the author/artist’s death, the copyright on that intellectual property expires. Once expired, others can use it for themselves without payment to or permission from the original artist. This might mean remakes, sequels, spin-offs, new printings, or any other product based on the IP. Sometimes these new works are wonderful reinterpretations or expansions of the original work. Sometimes they’re just shameless money grabs.
I took a shot at public domain several years ago myself. I wrote a short story spin-off of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula that reimagines the gothic adventures of his side character Renfield. I find this lost and deranged soul to be a fascinating character and wondered what his life might have been like if his end in the novel wasn’t truly his end. This short story is one of several that sits unsold on my hard drive and I hadn’t thought much about it lately until last night.
The topic of public domain popped into my head again after I finished watching Season 1 of the Amazon Prime series, Young Sherlock. Author Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective has garnered a massive fandom since he was first introduced in the 1887 short story “A Study in Scarlet.” Over his lifetime, Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories about Holmes and there have been countless adaptations since. Because I enjoyed director Guy Ritchie’s take on Holmes in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes and its 2011 sequel Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, I decided to watch the Prime series since Ritchie is listed as a co-creator. It doesn’t disappoint. Young Sherlock does what I wish all users of public domain would do. It expands the world of the detective to show us more of his origins and family and it does so in a well-written and respectful way. We get to meet his parents, Silas and Cordelia, along with his long-lost sister Beatrice. None of these characters exist in the works of Doyle, but they’re introduced in a way that makes them feel organic and important to his backstory. We’re also shown the origins of his nemesis James Moriarty and given a glimpse into why the two are so tightly linked all of their adult lives. Young Sherlock is public domain used in an artistic and entertaining way.There are other recent examples of public domain usage done right. Since the turn of the century, we’ve seen director Guillermo del Toro take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein last year in a film for Netflix. The Showtime series Penny Dreadful depicted Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, Dr. Jekyll, and more in overlapping stories that took place during the Victorian age. Author Silvia Moreno-Garcia wrote the novel The Daughter of Doctor Moreau in 2022 that remains on my To Read pile.
However there are many more uses of public domain that are either entertaining but probably not something the original author would appreciate (the films The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Wicked (2024), Wuthering Heights (2026)) or just plain terrible money grabs (Van Helsing (2004), Holmes & Watson (2018), Renfield (2023), Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood & Honey (2023), Mickey’s Mouse Trap (2024)).This year artistic works created in 1930 enter the public domain in the US and I’m sure a few of them will wind up being recreated in some fashion in the near future. Disney’s dog Pluto, cartoon Betty Boop, author Dashiell Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon, teenage detective Nancy Drew, and Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple are among the new options. Hopefully the adopters of this newly available IP will follow the lead of artists like Ritchie and del Toro. Art that is still remembered and enjoyed nearly 100 years after its creation isn’t just recyclable material to make a buck. It’s part of our history and deserves our respect.
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