I am about to publish a few projects, and I even though they are currently licensed under the MIT license, I came to the unexpected realization that the license I wanted (or the lack of it) was to release them under the PUBLIC DOMAIN. So far I have found the following licenses: So far I have found…

[image] NobbZ: Still, as both of us pointed out, this doesn’t make it illegal to put something under public domain. Depends on the definition of “public domain”. Afaik the definition implied by the american concept of public domain would be to give up authorship as well.

Then it’s not “illegal” but you simply can’t. Noone will sue you because you tried, but dropping the authors right won’t have any effect and will invalidate the “license” as a whole. But at no point in this process you’ll be sueable. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer

[image] NobbZ: PD is possible in Germany, though not the default. PD is possible everywhere, but you need to die first (and then wait 50+ years) :wink: You cannot voluntarily reject your rights and place your work in PD though. The same problem was in EEPs where “public domain” is not legal …

[image] NobbZ: Then it’s not “illegal” but you simply can’t. Poor choice of words of mine. What I meant was that it does not have legal validity.

I have done my one hour of reading on this subject, and I pretty much came to the same conclusion. CC Zero is the way to go. I am in doubt whether to go with dual license with MIT NO ATTRIBUTION or not, as there might be some companies that do not like PUBLIC DOMAIN such as Google that forbids the…

[image] hauleth: The same problem was in EEPs where “public domain” is not legal in some jurisdictions (it was confirmed by lawyers of Ericsson on @kennethL ’s request). Thank you @hauleth . It is very similar to my use case.

Can’t you just write your own WTFPL with your own wording? I someone came up with such a license, it looks like anyone can do the same, no?

Hi! I could just write “RELEASED UNDER PUBLIC DOMAIN” and it will have the same effect, But I am trying to avoid legal voids in certain countries, and projects not being able to use my project due to similar limitations due to lack of a license. The WTFPL and Unlicense licenses suffer from this.

I’ve been through this a few times. You need to decide on the outcomes you want, and then pick the license to fit, not the other way around. The https://choosealicense.com/ site makes finding something really easy. See Licenses | Choose a License for a nice overview. SPDX License List | Software P…

As a copyright lawyer in the EU, my general information is that one does not dabble with public domain in mainland Europe. This is inter alia due to different legal traditions compared to the British isles and North America. You just don’t and for very good reasons.

Advice on Public Domain license

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eksperimental December 30, 2021, 3:20pm 18

Thank you @hauleth . It is very similar to my use case.