Public domain in the US, the EU and the UK

The Picture of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde, 1890

Oscar Wilde's novel is free in both its 1890 and 1891 versions. Paint your own portrait: the famous ones belong to their painters.

First published
1890
Author died
1900
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 1890, before 1931: the 95-year US term for works of that age has run out.
European Union and United KingdomPublic domain since 1 January 1971. Oscar Wilde died in 1900, 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.

The painter Basil Hallward finishes a portrait of the beautiful young Dorian Gray, and under the influence of the witty Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian wishes the picture would age instead of him. The wish comes true. Over the years Dorian stays young while the hidden portrait records every cruelty, until he can no longer bear to look at it.

Free to use

  • The 1890 magazine version (13 chapters) and the 1891 book (20 chapters, with Wilde's preface).
  • Dorian, Basil, Lord Henry, Sibyl Vane and her brother James, and Wilde's dialogue, epigrams included.
  • The premise of a portrait that ages in your place, for any modern update: a filter, an avatar, a feed.
  • Commercial use of the whole: film, series, a cut-down short.

Watch out for

  • Paintings made for the films (such as the portrait painted for the 1945 Hollywood film) are artworks with their own copyright. Create your own portrait.
  • Passages first published long after Wilde's death, for example restored from a typescript in a recent scholarly edition, can carry a separate 25-year right in the EU, and the editor's notes are protected. Use the 1890 or 1891 published text.
  • Recent translations are protected. Use an old one or your own.
  • When you show a portrait that changes, keep each version of the painting as a story element so it stays consistent from shot to shot.

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

An adaptation idea

Dorian never ages online: the portrait is a profile picture that rots in a hidden account.

Format: A feature, or an eight-episode series that covers the 18 years the novel skips in a single chapter.

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. 1Pick a version: 1890 for a shorter, darker story, 1891 for the full novel. Download it below as a PDF with a text layer.
  2. 2Attach it to a project and ask the assistant for the characters, places and objects. Create the portrait as an object with one reference image per stage of decay.
  3. 3Write the art direction: London drawing rooms, an opium den by the docks, a locked schoolroom upstairs. Add your own style image.
  4. 4Ask for the scenes, then the shots, citing the portrait in every shot where it appears.
  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 Picture of Dorian Gray from a legal source

Questions

Is The Picture of Dorian Gray in the public domain?
Yes. It was first published in 1890 and Oscar Wilde died in 1900. Both versions are free in the US, the EU and the UK.
Which version should I adapt?
Both are free. The 1890 version is shorter and was cut by its editor before publication; the 1891 book adds chapters, including James Vane's revenge plot. Avoid copying a modern edition's restored text and notes.
Can I show the portrait from a famous film?
No. A painting made for a film is protected on its own. Generate or paint your own, and keep it as a reference in your project.

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 Picture of Dorian Gray, build the cast and the places, write the scenes and cut them into shots. The Screenwriter plan is free.
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