Public domain in the US, the EU and the UK

Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson, 1883

Stevenson's pirate novel is free: the map, the black spot, Long John Silver and his parrot. Later versions, including Disney's Treasure Planet, are not.

First published
1883
Author died
1894
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 1883, before 1931: the 95-year US term for works of that age has run out.
European Union and United KingdomPublic domain since 1 January 1965. Robert Louis Stevenson died in 1894, 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.

Young Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map in the sea chest of an old pirate who dies at his mother's inn. Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey fit out the Hispaniola to find the treasure, and hire a one-legged cook, Long John Silver, who quietly fills the crew with his old shipmates. On the island, Jim overhears the mutiny being planned, and the voyage becomes a fight for the treasure in which Silver keeps changing sides.

Free to use

  • The 1883 novel: Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver and his parrot Captain Flint, Billy Bones, Blind Pew, Ben Gunn, Doctor Livesey, Captain Smollett and the Hispaniola.
  • The treasure map, the black spot and the song "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest."
  • Any version: in space, underwater, from Silver's side, a series.
  • Commercial use, including merchandise based on the book's own characters.

Watch out for

  • Disney's Treasure Planet (2002), Muppet Treasure Island (1996) and every film version own their designs, songs and scripts.
  • Many pirate clichés come from later films rather than from the book. Take your pirates from Stevenson's descriptions.
  • New translations and annotated editions are protected. Use the 1883 text or an old translation.
  • 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

Long John Silver's last voyage: the mutineer tells his own story, and you never know when he is lying.

Format: A feature, or a six-episode series from the inn to the island.

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 1883 text 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. Create the map as an object with its own reference sheet.
  3. 3Write the art direction: an inn on a grey coast, a schooner at sea, a green island with a stockade. Add a style image of your own.
  4. 4Ask for the scenes, then the shots of each scene, citing the Hispaniola wherever 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 Treasure Island from a legal source

Questions

Is Treasure Island public domain?
Yes. Robert Louis Stevenson published it as a book in 1883 and died in 1894. It is free in the US, the EU and the UK.
Can I make a space version?
Yes. Moving the story to space is your own idea; just don't copy what Disney's Treasure Planet designed.
Can Silver have a parrot?
Yes. Captain Flint, the parrot, is in the book.

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 Treasure Island, build the cast and the places, write the scenes and cut them into shots. The Screenwriter plan is free.
Start my adaptation