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> 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 copyr

> 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

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.