In December 2013, a US District Court made a baffling ruling.
The court decided that Sherlock Holmes’s copyright had expired...
But only for Sherlock version 1!
Any traits of Sherlock’s which appeared in his later novels, the court ruled, were protected content and thus still subject to copyright.
Very curious.
It certainly puts a Moriarty-sized question mark over who Sherlock really is.
For example, in the earlier stories, Sherlock comes across as cold, logical and emotionally distant. But in his later stories, Sherlock v2 shows genuine warmth for his sidekick Dr Watson.
Similar thing with Sherlock’s view on knowledge.
In A Study in Scarlet, Watson is surprised to hear that Sherlock doesn’t know the Earth orbits the Sun. And he’s even more surprised when Sherlock says he’ll do his best to forget that
fact as it has no bearing on his detective work.
Contrast that with Sherlock’s attitude in the later story The Valley of Fear where he says “All knowledge comes useful to a detective”
So spare a thought for
poor old Sherlock.
His heart and his mind have softened in all the right ways, but a bunch of do-gooder lawyers in a dusty room have sentenced him to be a robot forever.
What Sir Arthur Conan The Barbarian Doyle would’ve
made of all this I have no idea.
But what I do know is that Sherlock isn’t the only person to be trapped by his old highlight (or lowlight) reel.
It’s a jam that trips up the personal growth crew for sure. But
actually, it can trip up anyone who’s moved on from who they used to be.
Wondering if that's you?
If you feel like you’re waiting for the world to catch up with who you’ve become, then it could well be.
Just remember that some people will always flip back to your earlier chapters.
There’s not much you can do about that.
But also remember that your growth isn’t up for review by committee. You’re allowed to outgrow people’s expectations without any apology or explanation.
Whether the world catches up or not, you don’t need to wait.
So if you’ve seen something in yourself you couldn’t ignore and you’ve done something about it, I doff my deerstalker.
That's all I have to say on that for now.
Before I
go:
If you’re tired of playing your old character and you’d like to chat about what’s possible, hit reply and we'll take it from there.
To fulfilment,
Tom