Using Bram’s work

Bram’s original published text of Dracula is in the public domain in the UK and many other countries. Where it is out of copyright, you can use it without an Estate licence. Check which version you are using. A modern translation, introduction, illustration, recording or adaptation can have its own rights. Credit Bram Stoker and name the edition you quote.

Not necessarily. No single answer covers every item. Original published works and later adaptations have different histories. Certain previously unpublished works can remain protected under UK transitional rules until 31 December 2039. These rules can apply to literary, dramatic and musical works and engravings by authors who died before 1969; publication history and other conditions matter. See the UK Intellectual Property Office guidance on copyright duration. Before you decide, identify the work, its publication history and the country concerned.

Identify the exact image and read its credit. A historic portrait, a photograph or scan of it, and a modern digital reproduction can each have different rights or supply conditions. Contact the collection that holds it, or the named rights holder. If the family owns an object, that does not mean the Estate owns every photograph of it. If you need help finding the right contact, send us the image reference, your intended use, the publication format, the countries and your deadline.

A novel being in the public domain does not settle whether a brand or product uses a registered trade mark. Protection depends on the country, the registration, the classes of goods or services and the use. Contact the Estate with details of the branding you propose. Please do not suggest an Estate partnership or approval unless we have agreed it in writing.

An event listing, link or reproduction on this site is not an endorsement. If you are unsure about a product that claims to be official or authorised by the Estate, send us its link and the exact wording of the claim through Contact. We can confirm whether there is an Estate connection. We cannot work out every third party’s rights from a label alone.

Please tell us the material or image reference, what you want to do, the countries involved and your timetable. For the website notice, see Legal notice. For source collections, see Credits and acknowledgements.

Original material on this website is credited to the Bram Stoker Estate where the Estate or members of the family own the rights. Historic texts, artworks and third-party images keep their own rights status and credits. Please contact the Estate about reproduction requests. Publication on this site does not by itself grant a licence to reuse anything. It does not affect any use that the law already allows.