This year, US public domain debuts include last Sherlock Holmes work

On Jan 1, 2023, works from 1927 entered the US public domain. They include Virginia Woolf's 'To The Lighthouse' and the final Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, the German science-fiction film 'Metropolis' and Alfred Hitchcock’s first thriller, and a novelty song about ice cream. Photo: Handout

Sherlock Holmes is finally free to the American public in 2023.

The long-running contested copyright dispute over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of a whipsmart detective – which has even ensnared Enola Holmes – has finally come to an end as the 1927 copyrights (expired Jan 1) include Conan Doyle's last Sherlock Holmes work.