Holmes is under copyrights in the US for nearly 85 years. Conan expired in 1930. Jean, his second wife had three children.The guardianship of literary properties were handed over to them. Denis, their son helped Holmes into screen appearances  – both films and TV before he expired in 1955. Adrian, the younger son inherited the estate. Adrin expired in 1970. The daughter received the estate — her name was also Jean.

Nina, widow of Denis, fought for the control of properties and purchased the characters. She established Baskvilles Investments Ltd which fell into financial disarray. The Royal Bank of Scotland took receivership of the company. In 1976, they sold Conan Doyle rights to an American producer, Sheldon Reynolds who made Sherlock Holmes TV series in 1954. Reynold could not exploit the rights for long. In 1980, Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle’s other works entered the public domain in Britain. In the US, the Copyright Act of 1976 was passed. It gave an author or his heirs a chance to capture lost rights.

Jean Conan Doyle, a retired air commandant permitted the licensing of his characters for off-beat films. She expired in 1997, and bequeathed her father’s copyrights to the Royal National Institute of Blind People. The Institute sold the rights back to the Doyle heirs who transferred them to a family-owned company.

The estate has licensed the characters. In court cases in 1990s, Andrea Plunket, the ex-wife of Reynolds filed law suits against the Conan Doyle estate alleging violation of her rights. As her family had financed the purchase of Conan Doyle properties from the Royal Bank of Scotland, and after her divorce, she claimed these rights were hers.The courts have not favoured her contention. She may still own derivative properties created by Reynolds like Sherlock Holmes series for Polish TV.

Sherlock Holmes remains under copyrights in the US through 2023, and any new properties involving the detective should be licensed by the Conan Doyle estate. The estate is silent about its plan when Holmes falls into public domain in the US. The estate can observe how other properties like Mickey Mouse (88) years and Tarzan are dealt with.

There are nine surving heirs of Conan Doyle. None is a direct descendant of the author.