Public domain in the US, the EU and the UK

Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen, 1813

Austen's 1813 novel is free to adapt, modernise and sell. The famous lake scene is not in the book: it belongs to the 1995 series.

First published
1813
Author died
1817
Original language
English
Start my adaptationOriginal texts

Copyright status

Copyright ends at different dates in different countries. Here is where this work stands in the three places most readers release in.
WhereStatus
United StatesPublic domain. First published in 1813, before 1931: the 95-year US term for works of that age has run out.
European Union and United KingdomPublic domain since 1 January 1888. Jane Austen died in 1817, and the term is 70 years after the end of the year of death.
Other countriesMost countries protect a work for 50 to 100 years after its author's death, and some have transition rules. If you release or sell in a specific country, check its law.

Status checked on October 26, 2026 against the sources listed in our legal guide.

Mrs Bennet has five daughters and no son to inherit the estate, so she needs them married. When the rich Mr Bingley rents the house nearby, he falls for Jane, the eldest, while his proud friend Mr Darcy insults the second, Elizabeth. Wickham's lies, Darcy's clumsy first proposal and her youngest sister's elopement force Elizabeth to see that she was as wrong about Darcy as he was about her.

Free to use

  • The 1813 novel: Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mr Bingley, Wickham, Mr Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Longbourn, Netherfield and Pemberley.
  • Austen's dialogue and her famous opening line.
  • Any modern version: an office, a school, a dating app, a different country, a series.
  • Sequels and spin-offs of your own about any of the characters.

Watch out for

  • Scenes invented by adaptations belong to them, like Darcy diving into the lake in the 1995 BBC series. So do their scripts, costumes and music.
  • Novels built on the book, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009) and Bridget Jones's Diary (1996), are protected works with their own additions.
  • New translations and annotated editions are protected. Use the 1813 text or an old translation.
  • Don't make your Darcy look like Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen, and never name an actor in a prompt.

The full rules, with the laws and court decisions behind them, are in our guide to adapting public domain works.

An adaptation idea

Pride and Prejudice told through Elizabeth's letters to Jane, the only person she is honest with.

Format: A ten-episode vertical series of two to three minutes each, or a feature.

Adapt it in ScreenWeaver

These are the steps as they run in ScreenWeaver today. You read and edit every step, and you start every generation yourself, in the app.

  1. 1Download the 1813 text below and save it as a PDF with a text layer, which ScreenWeaver reads for free.
  2. 2Attach it to a series project and ask the assistant for the characters and places. Describe each Bennet sister in her own story element so they don't blur together.
  3. 3Write the art direction: Regency country houses, assembly rooms by candlelight, muddy lanes. Add a style image of your own.
  4. 4Ask for the scenes of the first ball, then the shots of each scene.
  5. 5Generate the frames in Storyboard, then the clips in Production.

How a whole book becomes scenes and shots: novel to storyboard.

Original texts

Where to get Pride and Prejudice from a legal source

Questions

Is Pride and Prejudice public domain?
Yes. Jane Austen published it in 1813 and died in 1817. It is free in the US, the EU and the UK.
Can I include the lake scene?
Not as the 1995 series shot it: the scene is not in the novel. Write your own scene for the same moment.
Can I make a modern version?
Yes. You can move the story to any time and place and sell the result. Only borrow from the novel, not from other modern versions.

General information, not legal advice. Copyright, trademark and personality rights depend on the country and on the facts of each project. For a commercial release, have a lawyer check your chain of rights.

Other works to adapt

Start your adaptation.

Import Pride and Prejudice, build the cast and the places, write the scenes and cut them into shots. The Screenwriter plan is free.
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