Line #53 Main/PublicDomainStories


1	A list of literature (stories, poems, novels, etc.) that are in the PublicDomain. In the USA, this includes any story first published before 1929. A comprehensive list is impossible to make; [[http://www.gutenberg.org Project Gutenberg]] has over forty thousand in English alone.
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3	Also, a work's PD status will vary between countries due to differences in copyright laws. For example, the status of the ''Literature/FuManchu'' series differs radically between several significant markets:
4	* In the US, only the first three books are PD.
5	* In the EU, UK, Australia, and Mexico, ''none'' of the series is PD.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Under EU, UK, and Australian law, works by an individual creator are under copyright for 70 years after the creator's death. Spain had a "life plus 80" term until it harmonized its copyright laws with the rest of the EU in 1987, and the "life plus 80" term still applies for works of creators who died before 1987. The term under Mexican law is ''100 years after death''. Fu Manchu's creator Creator/SaxRohmer didn't die until 1959.[[/labelnote]]
6	* In Canada, Japan, and New Zealand, ''the entire series'' is PD.[[labelnote:Explanation]]Instead of life plus 70 years, Canada's copyright term prior to 2022 was life plus ''50'' years, and the extension was not made retroactive. Japan made the same change in 2018, and also didn't make it retroactive. NZ still uses "life plus 50". The series thus entered the PD in all three countries in 2010.[[/labelnote]]
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8	Compare PublicDomainCharacter.
9	----
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11	[[AC:Subcategories]]
12	* ClassicLiterature
13	* EighteenthCenturyLiterature
14	* NineteenthCenturyLiterature
15	* LiteratureOfThe1900s
16	* LiteratureOfThe1910s
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18	[[AC:Literature]]
19	* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea''
20	* ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn''
21	* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer''
22	* ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''
23	* ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays''
24	* ''Literature/TheArtOfWarMachiavelli''
25	* ''Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu''
26	* ''Literature/TheBeautifulAndDamned''
27	* ''Literature/TheBlackArrow''
28	* ''Literature/BlandingsCastle'' - the first two books only
29	* ''Literature/BleakHouse''
30	* ''Literature/TheBrothersKaramazov''
31	* ''Literature/CalebWilliams''
32	* ''Literature/TheCallOfTheWild''
33	* ''Literature/{{Candide}}''
34	* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales''
35	* ''Literature/CaptainsCourageous''
36	* ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''
37	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfBarsetshire''
38	* ''Literature/TheComingRace''
39	* ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt''
40	* ''Literature/TheCoralIsland''
41	* ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment''
42	* ''Literature/DavidAndThePhoenix''
43	* ''Literature/DavidCopperfield''
44	* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy''
45	* ''Literature/DomCasmurro''
46	* ''Literature/{{Emma}}''
47	* ''Literature/EnochArden''
48	* ''Literature/EricOrLittleByLittle''
49	* ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene''
50	* ''Literature/{{Flatland}}''
51	* ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''
52	* ''Literature/GreatExpectations''
53	* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby''
54	* ''Literature/GulliversTravels''
55	* ''Literature/GuyMannering''
56	* ''Literature/TheHampdenshireWonder''
57	* ''Literature/HayyIbnYaqzan''
58	* ''Literature/{{Heidi}}''
59	* ''Literature/{{Hester}}''
60	* ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''
61	* ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}''
62	* ''Literature/JaneEyre''
63	* ''Literature/JeevesAndWooster'' - the early short stories and books only
64	* ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' – the first five books in the US; the entire series in the EU apart from Spain, the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Mexico;[[note]]before 1982, Mexico's term was life plus ''30'', and none of that country's three later term extensions (to life plus 50, 75, and 100) were retroactive.[[/note]] none of the series in Spain.
65	* ''Literature/JohnsLily''
66	* ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth''
67	* ''Literature/TheJungleBook''
68	* ''Literature/KamaSutra''
69	* ''Literature/TheKellysAndTheOKellys''
70	* ''Literature/{{Kenilworth}}''
71	* ''Film/KingKong1933'' novelization - significantly the ''only'' media in the Franchise/KingKong franchise to have entered public domain, allowing the production of a number of unlicensed sequels, adaptations, and modifications (usually timed to cash in on the release of a recently released King Kong film), such as ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyKong'', ''Literature/KongReborn'', and ''Literature/KongKingOfSkullIsland'' (the last of which has its own AlternateContinuity spawned from it).
72	* ''Literature/KingSolomonsMines''
73	* ''Literature/LadySusan''
74	* The Literature/LandOfOz series (books published before 1929), and an additional 7 that failed to have their copyright renewed, including
75	** ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz''
76	** ''Literature/TheMarvelousLandOfOz''
77	** ''Literature/OzmaOfOz''
78	** ''Literature/DorothyAndTheWizardInOz''
79	** ''Literature/TheRoadToOz''
80	** ''Literature/TheEmeraldCityOfOz''
81	** ''Literature/ThePatchworkGirlOfOz''
82	** ''Literature/TikTokOfOz''
83	** ''Literature/TheScarecrowOfOz''
84	** ''Literature/RinkitinkInOz''
85	** ''Literature/TheLostPrincessOfOz''
86	** ''Literature/TheTinWoodmanOfOz''
87	** ''Literature/TheMagicOfOz''
88	** ''Literature/GlindaOfOz''
89	** ''Literature/TheLostKingOfOz''
90	** ''Literature/HandyMandyInOz''
91	** ''Literature/QueenZixiOfIx''
92	* ''Literature/LaVendee''
93	* ''Literature/LittleWomen''
94	* ''Literature/TheLordOfBembibre''
95	* ''Literature/TheMacDermotsOfBallycloran''
96	* ''Literature/MansfieldPark''
97	* ''Literature/LesMiserables''
98	* ''Literature/TheMonastery''
99	* ''Literature/MrsDalloway''
100	* ''Literature/MyFathersDragon'' (the sequels had their copyrights renewed, but not the first book)
101	* ''Literature/NicholasNickleby''
102	* ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey''
103	* ''Literature/OldMortality''
104	* ''Literature/OliverTwist''
105	* ''Literature/OrlandoABiography''
106	* ''Literature/OttoOfTheSilverHand''
107	* ''Literature/{{Palliser}}''
108	* ''Literature/{{Persuasion}}''
109	* ''Literature/PeterPan'', though not in the UK, where a hospital earns perpetual royalties.
110	* ''Literature/ThePirate''
111	* ''Literature/APortraitOfTheArtistAsAYoungMan''
112	* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''
113	* ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper''
114	* ''Literature/{{Psmith}}''
115	* ''Literature/ThePurpleCloud''
116	* ''Literature/QuestForFire'': The original French version ''La Guerre du feu'' is public domain but the various English translations are not.
117	* ''Literature/{{Raffles}}''
118	* ''Literature/RaggedDick''
119	* ''Literature/RebeccaOfSunnybrookFarm''
120	* ''Literature/ReggiePepper''
121	* ''Literature/ReynardTheFox''
122	* ''Literature/RightHoJeeves''
123	* ''Literature/RobinsonCrusoe''
124	* ''Literature/RobRoy''
125	* ''Literature/RosaleenAmongTheArtists''
126	* ''Literature/TheSeaFairies''
127	* ''Literature/TheSeaWolf''
128	* ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility''
129	* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' - all of the original Creator/ArthurConanDoyle canon
130	* ''Literature/TheSorrowsOfSatan''
131	* ''Literature/TheStoryOfValentineAndHisBrother''
132	* ''Literature/TheSurprisingAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen''
133	* ''Literature/TheSwissFamilyRobinson''
134	* ''Literature/TheSwordOfSaintFerdinand''
135	* ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter''
136	* ''Literature/TheTaleOfPeterRabbit''
137	* ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'' – any story published before 1929 in the US; same status as ''John Carter of Mars'' in other territories
138	* ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities''
139	* ''Literature/ThisSideOfParadise''
140	* ''Literature/TheTimeMachine''
141	* ''Literature/ToBuildAFire''
142	* ''Literature/TreasureIsland''
143	* ''Literature/{{Ulysses}}''
144	* ''Literature/{{Ukridge}}'' - (the stories published before 1929)
145	* ''Literature/WarAndPeace''
146	* ''Literature/TheWaterBabies''
147	* ''Literature/{{Waverley}}''
148	* ''Literature/TheWayWeLiveNow''
149	* ''Literature/WetMagic''
150	* ''Literature/WhiteFang''
151	* ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'' - the first two books are public domain in the U.S. as of 2024; the British copyright on the text will expire in 2027, at which point all Creator/AAMilne works will be public domain in the UK. However, the illustrations will not become PD in the UK until 2047; illustrator E.H. Shepard lived until 1976.
152	* ''Literature/TheWormOuroboros''
153	* ''Literature/WutheringHeights''
154	* ''Literature/TheYoungDiana''
155	* ''Literature/{{Zorro}}'' - the original literature works by [=McCulley=], ''The Curse of Capistrano'' and ''The Further Adventures of Zorro''
156	[[AC:Mythology & Religion]]
157	* Myth/ArthurianLegend
158	* Literature/TheBible: While the actual text is in the public domain and many versions of the Bible are free of copyright, certain versions of it are copyrighted in some jurisdictions (e.g., the King James Bible is under perpetual copyright in the United Kingdom).
159	* ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''
160	* Myth/BrazilianFolklore
161	* ''Literature/ADescriptionOfTheNorthernPeoples''
162	* ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh'': One of the earliest surviving works of great literature.
163	* ''Literature/TheIliad''
164	* ''Myth/JuanBobo''
165	* Myth/MountainFolklore
166	* Myth/NauticalFolklore
167	* ''Literature/TheOdyssey''
168	* ''Myth/PaulBunyan''
169	* ''Literature/TheQuran'''s Arabic text is in the public domain, but some of the various modern translations aren't.
170	* Myth/RobinHood
171	* Myth/WilliamTell
172
173	[[AC:Theatre]]
174	* All the works of Creator/WilliamShakespeare
175	* ''Theatre/SwanLake''
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Context Main / PublicDomainStories