[OSM-legal-talk] PD declaration non binding?

[Russ Nelson]

Andy Allan writes:
 > Never mind what Richard says, there's also some other points
 > 1) You can't actually put anything into the public domain in most
 > jurisdictions. The best you can do yourself is use a special license,
 > such as CC0, which achieves similar results, but strictly isn't the
 > same - especially when it comes to moral rights

Never mind what Andy says, you need to understand that judges aren't
computers and lawyers aren't programmers.  If you say "Hey, I renounce
my legal rights to sue you for copyright infringement because I want
to share my data with the whole world without limitation", it's going
to be extremely difficult for you to sue anybody.  This is true even
in systems of law that respect inalienable moral rights.

 > 2) There's clearly not enough legalese there for it to be effective :-)

Judges aren't computers, lawyers aren't programmers, and particularly,
programmers aren't lawyers.

 > 3) I can "consider" my edits public domain to my heart's content, but
 > if they are based on other people's non-PD edits, then they aren't
 > going to be fully PD.

Sure, two plus one is three, but two plus zero is still two.

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