Public domain in the US, the EU and the UK

The MetamorphosisFranz Kafka, 1915

Kafka's 1915 novella is free in German. Most English translations are recent and protected, so check yours or translate.

First published
1915
Author died
1924
Original language
German
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 1915, before 1931: the 95-year US term for works of that age has run out.
European Union and United KingdomPublic domain since 1 January 1995. Franz Kafka died in 1924, 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.

One morning the travelling salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a monstrous insect. His only worry is that he will be late for work. His family, who live on his salary, are horrified. Locked in his room, Gregor listens to his parents and his sister Grete adjust to life without him, until his presence becomes unbearable to them.

Free to use

  • The 1915 German text, Die Verwandlung.
  • Gregor, Grete, the parents, the chief clerk and the three lodgers.
  • The ambiguity of what Gregor has become: Kafka never says exactly what insect he is.
  • Any version: modern, animated, a short, a horror film.

Watch out for

  • Most English translations are recent and protected. Check who made one and when they died before quoting it, or translate from the German.
  • Films, stage versions and graphic novels own their designs and scripts.
  • Kafka asked his publisher not to draw the insect itself on the cover. That choice is yours to make, but it is a strong idea to keep.
  • AI models will happily draw a specific bug. Decide how much of Gregor to show and stick to it.

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

An adaptation idea

The door: we never see Gregor, only his family's faces when they open his room.

Format: A 15-minute short.

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 German text from Project Gutenberg or Wikisource (links below), or your own translation, and save it as a PDF with a text layer.
  2. 2Attach it to a film project and ask for the characters, places and objects. Decide whether Gregor is a story element you show or one you keep off screen.
  3. 3Write the art direction: a small flat in Prague, a locked bedroom, a dining room seen through a crack. Add a style image of your own.
  4. 4Ask for the scenes in the novella's three parts, 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 Metamorphosis from a legal source

Questions

Is The Metamorphosis public domain?
Yes. Franz Kafka published it in 1915 and died in 1924. The German text is free in the US, the EU and the UK.
Can I use an English translation I found online?
Only if the translation itself is free. Many are recent. Check the translator, or translate from the German yourself.
What insect is Gregor?
Kafka doesn't say. He calls Gregor an enormous vermin, which leaves the design up to you.

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