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The Sqlite team has absolutely retained lawyers to advise on how to achieve this. Stanford has a clear page on fair use and the public domain, and specifically

The Sqlite team has absolutely retained lawyers to advise on how to achieve this. Stanford has a clear page on fair use and the public domain, and specifically cited 'dedication' as one of the four most common ways for a work to arrive in public domain. https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/ https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/ I'm just a random internet guy, but I've studied copyright for 25 years since it's a hobby of mine, and I'm not aware of any basis for your statements in this thread to the effect that works in the U.S. can't be put in the public domain. I'm aware of a lot of counterexamples, however, and I thought it was worth citing one here.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
Their page lists the 4 ways for a work to go into the public domain: 1. The copyright expires. 2. The copyright expires because it wasn't renewed. 3. They dedicate it to the public domain, and then wait for the copyright to expire. 4. Was never eligible for copyright. So, SQLite's almost got it done... they just have to wait the better part of a century, and their quest to put it into the public domain will have succeeded.
- rpdillon 3y ago
  > They dedicate it to the public domain, and then wait for the copyright to expire. That's not what it says. You've fabricated the part about letting the copyright expire. From that page: > If, upon viewing a work, you see words such as, “This work is dedicated to the public domain,” then it is free for you to use. Sometimes an author deliberately chooses not to protect a work and dedicates the work to the public.
  - NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
    It may be free to use... that's not the same as "in the public domain". And I did not fabricate it. It was directly from your link, without so much as scrolling. They have a 4 point list of ways for things to be in the public domain (and it's bad... like "wasn't renewed" is identical to "letting copyright expire", just because the law previously allowed renewal doesn't make that a special category). > Sometimes an author deliberately chooses not to protect a work Which isn't public domain. It's something else entirely. When a work is in the public domain, the author can't choose to protect it. Only the government can do this, and they made no provision for authors to choose to put works in the public domain. If the author can change his mind (or his descendants), then it is not and never was in the public domain. It is an important distinction, one which failure to understand it has the potential to cause grief.
    - rpdillon 3y ago
      An author dedicating the work to the public domain, which is the same as giving up their copyright rights, absolutely puts the work into the public domain, regardless of whether the copyright term has expired. This time from Cornell Law: > Once that period of time expires, or if the creator failed to comply with any legal formalities required at the time of creation or thereafter, the work enters the public domain - meaning it belongs to everyone, without restriction. The creator may also decide before the expiration of copyright to dedicate the work to the public domain, giving that new creation to the public to use. https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copyright/publicdomain https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copyright/publicdomain The author cannot 'change their mind' in this case: the rights, once given up, cannot be reinstated. There is a sharp edge here with collections of public domain works being copyrightable, but that's a separate issue, and does not affect the public domain status of the contituent works.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago

Their page lists the 4 ways for a work to go into the public domain: 1. The copyright expires. 2. The copyright expires because it wasn't renewed. 3. They dedicate it to the public domain, and then wait for the copyright to expire. 4. Was never eligible for copyright. So, SQLite's almost got it done... they just have to wait the better part of a century, and their quest to put it into the public domain will have succeeded.

rpdillon 3y ago
> They dedicate it to the public domain, and then wait for the copyright to expire. That's not what it says. You've fabricated the part about letting the copyright expire. From that page: > If, upon viewing a work, you see words such as, “This work is dedicated to the public domain,” then it is free for you to use. Sometimes an author deliberately chooses not to protect a work and dedicates the work to the public.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
  It may be free to use... that's not the same as "in the public domain". And I did not fabricate it. It was directly from your link, without so much as scrolling. They have a 4 point list of ways for things to be in the public domain (and it's bad... like "wasn't renewed" is identical to "letting copyright expire", just because the law previously allowed renewal doesn't make that a special category). > Sometimes an author deliberately chooses not to protect a work Which isn't public domain. It's something else entirely. When a work is in the public domain, the author can't choose to protect it. Only the government can do this, and they made no provision for authors to choose to put works in the public domain. If the author can change his mind (or his descendants), then it is not and never was in the public domain. It is an important distinction, one which failure to understand it has the potential to cause grief.
  - rpdillon 3y ago
    An author dedicating the work to the public domain, which is the same as giving up their copyright rights, absolutely puts the work into the public domain, regardless of whether the copyright term has expired. This time from Cornell Law: > Once that period of time expires, or if the creator failed to comply with any legal formalities required at the time of creation or thereafter, the work enters the public domain - meaning it belongs to everyone, without restriction. The creator may also decide before the expiration of copyright to dedicate the work to the public domain, giving that new creation to the public to use. https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copyright/publicdomain https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copyright/publicdomain The author cannot 'change their mind' in this case: the rights, once given up, cannot be reinstated. There is a sharp edge here with collections of public domain works being copyrightable, but that's a separate issue, and does not affect the public domain status of the contituent works.