Sherlock and the Case of the Policeman Playwright

Here's a funny local interest theatre story for your morning...

Turns out this cop, in Kent, OH has a soft spot for community theatre. He even has his own company, and puts on his own plays. Or at least plays under his name. He thought he hit the big time when a friend produced one of them in LA. From there word got back to a professional playwright in Canada, David Belke, that this cop's Sherlock Holmes play was a lot like his Sherlock Holmes play. Uh oh.

Alas, the copyright infringing cop is not Inspector Lestrade.

What a story! Theatre in the heartland (Ohio, community theatre), audience outreach (cops!), Anglophilia (Sherlock), intellectual property and an authorship controversy.

And hey, at least one American was paying attention to new Canadian playwrights! And whaddaya know, he gets arrested for it.