Screenwriting : Public Domain by Andrew Gardner

Most works (stories and songs, music, screenplays, etc) are owned by the original author/creator and you, as a screenwriter, can't do anything with them such as writing adaptations, sequels or using music in your script without acquiring the rights. However, you are free to use and adapt works that are in the public domain, so if you wanted to write your own version of Snow White, you can without fear if being sued by Disney (so long as you don't reference any aspect that was introduced by Disney). This link may help you http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/

Pierre left out the word copyright (which is ownership). Public domain is when copyright expires and nobody owns the novel or character or story or scene or whatever - and you are free to copy (use) those elements in your own work. So when the copyright expires on a novel, you are free to adapt it because nobody owns the rights (well, actually, everybody owns the rights). But as Pierre says - it can be tricky. So you can adapt the fairy tale SNOW WHITE, but you can"t use anything created for the Disney movie that is not in that fairy tale. The early Sherlock Holmes stories are in public domain, but not the later ones. So you can write a screenplay about Sherlock Holmes as long as it doesn't use anything that only appears in the later stories... like Holmes retiring and becoming a bee keeper. There are many great stories in the public domain that you can legally adapt into screenplays.

Of course, William is right. I wrote my response on my phone, so was looking for a shorter way of getting my point across but the copyright element is crucial so I shouldn’t have left that out. BTW – I recently read that Ian Fleming’s James Bond has entered the public domain (depending on in which country you reside) so that means some of us are free to write and produce our own James Bond movie so long as we’re careful to stick to the James Bond from Fleming’s novels and not encroach on any newer aspects of the Bond universe that were introduced by the films. Tricky territory indeed.

Very good information, thank you gentlemen! Is there a good place to go to find public domain works?

There's plenty of places for searching public domain books and songs, a quick Google search will show them. I used to have a favorite but not sure which one it is now.

Wouldn't any story from history be in the public domain?

Hi Eric, generally speaking, yes. But, for example, some of MLK's speeches are copyrighted.