Public domain in the US, the EU and the UK

The Hound of the BaskervillesArthur Conan Doyle, 1902

Holmes, Watson and the hound on the moor are free. What later films and series added to them is not.

First published
1902
Author died
1930
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 1902, before 1931: the 95-year US term for works of that age has run out.
European Union and United KingdomPublic domain since 1 January 2001. Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930, 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.

A legend says a demon hound has haunted the Baskerville family for centuries. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on Dartmoor, his heir Sir Henry arrives from Canada, and Sherlock Holmes sends Dr Watson to guard him. Alone on the moor, Watson finds an escaped convict, a strange naturalist and lights in the night, before Holmes reveals himself and the hound.

Free to use

  • The novel (1902) and every Sherlock Holmes story by Conan Doyle, who died in 1930: all are free in the US, the EU and the UK.
  • Holmes and Watson as Conan Doyle wrote them, Baskerville Hall, the Grimpen Mire, Stapleton, Sir Henry, the Barrymores.
  • Sidney Paget's illustrations of the stories, including the deerstalker cap: Paget died in 1908.
  • Your own version: a modern setting, a series, a horror film, a commercial release.

Watch out for

  • Elements invented by later adaptations stay with them: the look and lines of recent TV series and films, and characters such as Enola Holmes, who was created by a novelist in 2006.
  • "Elementary, my dear Watson" is not in Conan Doyle's stories. You may use it, but it is not his.
  • Before you use "Sherlock Holmes" as a series or product brand, search the trademark registers: names can be registered for specific goods.
  • Recent translations and annotated editions are protected. Use the original English or an old translation.

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

An adaptation idea

Watson alone on the moor: a horror film where the detective stays off screen until the last act, as in the novel.

Format: A 90-minute feature, or four episodes ending on the hound's attack.

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 novel below and save it as a PDF with a text layer, which ScreenWeaver reads for free.
  2. 2Attach it to a project and ask for the characters, places and objects. Describe Holmes and Watson from the text and from Paget's drawings, not from an actor.
  3. 3Write the art direction: granite tors, the mire in fog, a dark Victorian manor. Add your own style image.
  4. 4Ask for scenes built on Watson's letters and diary, then for the shots.
  5. 5Generate the frames in Storyboard, design the hound once as a story element so it stays the same, then generate the clips in Production.

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

Original texts

Where to get The Hound of the Baskervilles from a legal source

Questions

Is Sherlock Holmes in the public domain?
Yes. In the US, all of Conan Doyle's Holmes stories became free by 1 January 2023, and a federal appeals court held in Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate (2014) that the elements of the free stories, characters included, can be used without a licence. In the EU and the UK, Conan Doyle's works have been free since 2001.
Can I copy the look of a recent Sherlock series?
No. Costumes, music, dialogue and new characters created by modern adaptations are protected. Start from the stories.
Is The Hound of the Baskervilles a good first adaptation?
Yes. It is a single story with few places, one strong creature and a clear mystery, which keeps the cast and the sets small.

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 Hound of the Baskervilles, build the cast and the places, write the scenes and cut them into shots. The Screenwriter plan is free.
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