Public domain in the US, the EU and the UK

The Count of Monte CristoAlexandre Dumas, 1844

Dumas's revenge novel is free in French and in its old translations. Recent translations and the films, including the 2024 one, are not.

First published
1844
Author died
1870
Original language
French
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 1844, before 1931: the 95-year US term for works of that age has run out.
European Union and United KingdomPublic domain since 1 January 1941. Alexandre Dumas died in 1870, 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.

On the day of his engagement, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on a false charge written by jealous rivals and thrown into the Château d'If. There, an old prisoner, the Abbé Faria, teaches him everything he knows and tells him where a vast treasure is hidden. After fourteen years Dantès escapes, finds the treasure, and returns to Paris as the Count of Monte Cristo to destroy, one by one, the men who betrayed him.

Free to use

  • The French original, serialised in 1844–1846, and its first English translation of 1846.
  • Edmond Dantès, Mercédès, Fernand, Danglars, Villefort, Caderousse, the Abbé Faria and Haydée.
  • The prison escape in a corpse's sack and the island of Monte Cristo.
  • Any version: modern finance, a series, a single revenge in a feature.

Watch out for

  • Many translations are recent and protected. Check who made one and when they died before quoting its wording, or translate from the French.
  • Each film and series owns its script, its changes to the plot and its designs, including the 2024 French film.
  • Gallica scans are free for non-commercial reuse; the BnF charges for commercial use of its files. The text itself is free in any edition.
  • Never prompt for an actor from a famous version.

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

An adaptation idea

Fourteen years: the prison chapters alone, Dantès and Faria digging their way to each other.

Format: A feature on the prison years, or a ten-episode revenge series.

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. 1Get the French text from Wikisource or Gallica, or the old English translation from Project Gutenberg, and save it as a PDF with a text layer. Split the novel into several files if needed: up to 300 pages each.
  2. 2Attach it to a series project and ask for the characters, places and objects. Create Dantès and the Count as two states of one character.
  3. 3Write the art direction: Marseille harbour, a fortress prison, a Paris salon. Add a style image of your own.
  4. 4Ask for the scenes of the first part, 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 The Count of Monte Cristo from a legal source

Questions

Is The Count of Monte Cristo public domain?
Yes. Alexandre Dumas published it in 1844–1846 and died in 1870. The French text is free in the US, the EU and the UK.
Which translation can I use?
An old one whose translator died more than 70 years ago, such as the anonymous 1846 translation, or your own. Recent translations are protected.
Can I copy the ending of a film version?
No. Changes a film made to the story belong to the film. Use Dumas's ending or invent your own.

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

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Import The Count of Monte Cristo, build the cast and the places, write the scenes and cut them into shots. The Screenwriter plan is free.
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