4 ms·

In the US, if you put your software in the public domain it is in the public domain. It is not a license. With a license, you are retaining your copyright. Y

In the US, if you put your software in the public domain it is in the public domain. It is not a license. With a license, you are retaining your copyright. You're just allowing someone to use it in ways not ordinarily allowed by copyright. If something is in the public domain, you do not have a copyright. You can't even issue a license because you have no legal claim over the work. In many other countries, it is not possible to voluntarily put works in the public domain. In those countries, you need to have a license. This is where something like CC0 is useful. CC0 has not been approved by the OSI as an open source license, but that's not really an issue. However, CC0 does not contain a patent grant and so it's probably not the best choice for software if you are looking for an open source license.

beefhash 8y ago
> However, CC0 does not contain a patent grant and so it's probably not the best choice for software if you are looking for an open source license. Patent license scares are greatly overblown and really only a realistic danger in case of corporate code. People tend to have the decency to point out that the algorithms contained in the code are patented. A license containing a patent grant might actually be dangerous because it creates a false sense of security for the receipient, thinking they have a valid title, only to find out later that corporation X actually had a patent on this algorithm. Additionally, if you're sitting in a European jurisdiction, a patent license is completely pointless. Because software patents don't exist there. There's literally nothing that could possibly be licensed.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  That's great if all the people who might use your code are in Europe, but for those in places like Canada, Japan, etc, they can't use your code without exposing themselves to risk. It's great if you say, "I won't sue you", but best to put it in the license ;-)
bediger4000 8y ago
Can you point us to a definitive method of putting software into the public domain? I had a look around a couple of years ago, and I couldn't find such a method. I'd love to see one, however.
- mikekchar 8y ago
  The problem is that it is literally not possible to put anything in the public domain except by waiting tens of years in many countries. CC0 is the license that offers the closest equivalent effect, but its still a license. There's not really any way to fix that except to lobby governments to make an international treaty to allow placing of artefacts into the public domain. I can't really see that ever happening, though. If I were in the US, I think I would place the code in the public domain and then also offer a CC0 license to anybody not in the US. In that case, personally, I would offer a separate patent grant just to ensure that people can use my code without worry. For me, I would only do that if I'm trying to make a statement about copyright itself. There are lots of good permissive software licenses around and I think it's much easier to simply pick one of them. However, I can think of a few people who specifically want to unshackle themselves from copyright and this is the closest way I know how to do it. It's a definite shame that you can't do it fully on the international stage.
  - bediger4000 8y ago
    I live in the USA. I'd like to put my software (https://github.com/bediger4000 https://github.com/bediger4000) in the public domain. What actions do I need to take to do this? I mean, pre-1976 you just didn't put a copyright notice on it. That was enough, it defaulted into public domain. Post-1976, it defaults to copyrighted, notice or not. What otherworldly ritual do I need to perform, or notice to put on my code, to ensure it's in the public domain? I presume it's not as easy as just telling a few people, "all that's in the public domain".
    - beefhash 8y ago
      > I live in the USA. I'd like to put my software (https://github.com/bediger4000 https://github.com/bediger4000) in the public domain. What actions do I need to take to do this? [...] I presume it's not as easy as just telling a few people, "all that's in the public domain". Well, it indeed isn't that easy. You'd have to provide some kind of fallback clause, which allows people to choose CC0 or some very liberal license (ISC, MIT) at their discretion – CC0 isn't OSI-approved and ISC/MIT has an attribution requirement, so there's once more a choice needed. People could just believe you and use the software despite having no valid permission from the copyright holder if they're willing to take that risk and just act as if the code was in the public domain. > I mean, pre-1976 you just didn't put a copyright notice on it. That was enough, it defaulted into public domain. Post-1976, it defaults to copyrighted, notice or not. What otherworldly ritual do I need to perform, or notice to put on my code, to ensure it's in the public domain? You still need to perform an otherworldly ritual even if you have pre-1976 code. This is because even if you've failed to acquire copyright in the U.S., you still have completely valid copyright in states where copyright was already automatic at the time and where international private law refers to the law of the state for which IP protection is sought.

beefhash 8y ago

> However, CC0 does not contain a patent grant and so it's probably not the best choice for software if you are looking for an open source license. Patent license scares are greatly overblown and really only a realistic danger in case of corporate code. People tend to have the decency to point out that the algorithms contained in the code are patented. A license containing a patent grant might actually be dangerous because it creates a false sense of security for the receipient, thinking they have a valid title, only to find out later that corporation X actually had a patent on this algorithm. Additionally, if you're sitting in a European jurisdiction, a patent license is completely pointless. Because software patents don't exist there. There's literally nothing that could possibly be licensed.

mikekchar 8y ago
That's great if all the people who might use your code are in Europe, but for those in places like Canada, Japan, etc, they can't use your code without exposing themselves to risk. It's great if you say, "I won't sue you", but best to put it in the license ;-)

bediger4000 8y ago

Can you point us to a definitive method of putting software into the public domain? I had a look around a couple of years ago, and I couldn't find such a method. I'd love to see one, however.

mikekchar 8y ago
The problem is that it is literally not possible to put anything in the public domain except by waiting tens of years in many countries. CC0 is the license that offers the closest equivalent effect, but its still a license. There's not really any way to fix that except to lobby governments to make an international treaty to allow placing of artefacts into the public domain. I can't really see that ever happening, though. If I were in the US, I think I would place the code in the public domain and then also offer a CC0 license to anybody not in the US. In that case, personally, I would offer a separate patent grant just to ensure that people can use my code without worry. For me, I would only do that if I'm trying to make a statement about copyright itself. There are lots of good permissive software licenses around and I think it's much easier to simply pick one of them. However, I can think of a few people who specifically want to unshackle themselves from copyright and this is the closest way I know how to do it. It's a definite shame that you can't do it fully on the international stage.
- bediger4000 8y ago
  I live in the USA. I'd like to put my software (https://github.com/bediger4000 https://github.com/bediger4000) in the public domain. What actions do I need to take to do this? I mean, pre-1976 you just didn't put a copyright notice on it. That was enough, it defaulted into public domain. Post-1976, it defaults to copyrighted, notice or not. What otherworldly ritual do I need to perform, or notice to put on my code, to ensure it's in the public domain? I presume it's not as easy as just telling a few people, "all that's in the public domain".
  - beefhash 8y ago
    > I live in the USA. I'd like to put my software (https://github.com/bediger4000 https://github.com/bediger4000) in the public domain. What actions do I need to take to do this? [...] I presume it's not as easy as just telling a few people, "all that's in the public domain". Well, it indeed isn't that easy. You'd have to provide some kind of fallback clause, which allows people to choose CC0 or some very liberal license (ISC, MIT) at their discretion – CC0 isn't OSI-approved and ISC/MIT has an attribution requirement, so there's once more a choice needed. People could just believe you and use the software despite having no valid permission from the copyright holder if they're willing to take that risk and just act as if the code was in the public domain. > I mean, pre-1976 you just didn't put a copyright notice on it. That was enough, it defaulted into public domain. Post-1976, it defaults to copyrighted, notice or not. What otherworldly ritual do I need to perform, or notice to put on my code, to ensure it's in the public domain? You still need to perform an otherworldly ritual even if you have pre-1976 code. This is because even if you've failed to acquire copyright in the U.S., you still have completely valid copyright in states where copyright was already automatic at the time and where international private law refers to the law of the state for which IP protection is sought.