Copyright term for books: European Union
In the European Union, according to EUR-Lex: life of the author and 70 years after death, across the member states. As of 2026-09-25.
Across the European Union, Directive 2006/116/EC sets the term for literary and artistic works at the life of the author and 70 years after death, whenever the work was first made public.
Member states apply the directive through their own laws, so the national statute is the text a court reads, but the length is the same across the union.
The directive also covers joint and anonymous works, which count from other dates.
1In the official wording
shall run for the life of the author and for 70 years after his death, irrespective of the date when the work is lawfully made available to the public.
EUR-Lex, Directive 2006/116/EC on the term of protection
- Article 1Life of the author and 70 years after death, across the member states
- Directive read; no separate expiry wordingNot stated on the page read (2026-09-25)
2Turning the book into episodes
Once the rights in “European Union” are settled, SceneMixer describes the adaptation itself like this:
A script longer than about 10,000 characters (counted as Chinese-equivalent characters) is read in two passes: first the cast, sets and props, then the episode list with a short outline per episode.
SceneMixer, Long Scripts Are Read in Two Passes: What “Preparing Episodes” Means and Why Some Episodes Open Later (read 2026-10-13)
About 300,000 characters of English — roughly 50,000 words — in one project. Past that, split by act or volume and run them as separate projects; the cast can be carried across.
SceneMixer, AI Script Breakdown — “How long can the script be?” (read 2026-10-13)
3Next to the other jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | Term | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Life of the author plus 70 years for works created from 1978 | Every work published in the United States before January 1, 1931 is in the public domain |
| United Kingdom | 70 years after the author's death for written works | Once copyright has expired, anyone can use or copy the work |
| European Union | Life of the author and 70 years after death, across the member states | Not stated on the page read |
| Canada | Life of the author, the rest of that calendar year, then 70 years | The 70 years run from the end of the calendar year of death |
| Japan | The author's lifetime and 70 years after death | Not stated on the page read |
| Australia | 70 years after the death of the author for works | Expired material falls into the public domain and may be used without permission |
Inclusion rule. Jurisdictions whose official pages were read. Order. The order they are listed in on this site.
Every one of the six reads 70 years after the author's death for an ordinary book, but the details differ: where the count starts, how older works are handled, and which works count from publication instead of death.
4Other jurisdictions
Then check the text you use: public-domain libraries; and the tool you upload it to: AI tool terms.