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To whom does beloved literary detective Sherlock Holmes really belong?

According to Holmes fan Leslie S. Klinger, everyone.

Klinger filed a civil complaint stating that because the "Holmes" characters and many of the stories were first published before 1923, the fees many have paid to the Conan Doyle estate for use of the characters are unnecessary because Holmes and his exploits are in the public domain in the US. Klinger requests that the court state that the elements of the 鈥淗olmes鈥� stories are indeed in the public domain.聽

Klinger, who is also the editor of 鈥淎nnotated Sherlock Holmes鈥� as well as the mind behind other Holmes-related works, filed the complaint in Illinois on Feb. 14. According to his complaint, she was motivated to file it after the Conan Doyle estate told publisher Pegasus Books that it would stop a book titled 鈥淚n the Company of Sherlock Holmes鈥� from being sold by companies like Barnes & Noble and Amazon unless Pegasus paid the estate a licensing fee. 鈥淚n the Company of Sherlock Holmes鈥� was edited by Klinger and features stories about the detective by authors like Laurie R. King.

Klinger said he paid $5,000 to the estate when he released a similar compilation titled 鈥淎 Study in Sherlock鈥� in 2011. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to pay it then,鈥� he told The New York Times, saying of the current request, 鈥淓nough is enough. This time it was really too big a threat.鈥�

Ten of the 鈥淗olmes鈥� stories were released in the US post-1923, but the rest came out before then.

Klinger鈥檚 action has caused controversy in the Holmes fan community. 鈥淭he suit has wreaked havoc,鈥� assistant professor at Whittier Law School Betsy Rosenblatt told The New York Times.聽

Darlene Cypser, who wrote a trilogy about a juvenile Sherlock Holmes, said she鈥檚 in full support of Klinger鈥檚 actions.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e heard about the way the estate is going around bullying people,鈥� Cypser said of fans in an interview with The New York Times. 鈥淭his has been coming for some time. I鈥檓 glad Les decided to take it up.鈥�

However, lawyer for the Conan Doyle estate Benjamin Allison said there鈥檚 little room for negotiation.

鈥淭he character Sherlock Holmes is protected by copyright,鈥� he told The New York Times. 鈥淗olmes is a unified literary character that wasn鈥檛 completely developed until the author laid down his pen.鈥�

The detective in the deerstalker hat is of course still a hot cultural property, with two successful TV shows (the BBC鈥檚 鈥淪herlock鈥� and the CBS show 鈥淓lementary鈥�) going strong and a successful reboot of the stories starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law having raked in high box office grosses in movie theaters.

A recent new Holmes story, this one sanctioned by the estate, by Anthony Horowitz titled 鈥淭he House of Silk,鈥� garnered positive reviews.