this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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The problem with Public Domain is that it does not exist in most jurisdictions. There is no "Public Domain" in (edit: at least parts of) the EU, for example.
Public domain absolutely exists in the EU.
What you mean is that someone can't passively waive their rights in (most parts of) the EU. When copyright expires, the work is pretty public domain. And the EU recognises public domain from other jurisdiction. It also perfectly allows someone to license a work however they like, while retaining that copyright. Regardless of how a creator allows a work to be used, the work is still their work.
AI bots never had rights to waive. Their work is not their work.
This is only partially true. In the US (which tends to set the tone on copyright, but other jurisdictions will weigh in over time) generative AI cannot be considered an "author." That doesn't mean that other forms of rights don't apply to AI generated works (for example, AI generated works may be treated as trade secrets and probably will be accepted for trademark purposes).
Also, all of the usual transformations which can take work from the public domain and result in a new copyrightable derivative also apply.
This is a much more complex issue than just, "AI bots never had rights to waive."
Hmm. There was some kind of issue with that in the EU that led to the creation of a Creative Commons license, IIRC. Maybe nonstandardized handling of stuff not under copyright. I remember that in the US, putting something in the public domain wasn't an issue, but in at least some of the EU, it was important to use Creative Commons instead.
I think that something not being under copyright isn't analogous everywhere.
googles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-domain-equivalent_license
yeah, you can't give up some right on your work like paternity in the eu. but the public domain applies to everything that has been there for long enough (70 years after the authors death in france for example)
What do you mean? Anything that isn't copyrighted is public domain, including old works.
In some countries, that might be the case. However, in Germany (where I live), there is no way to have something "not copyrighted". The author holds the copyright unless explicitly licensed. (Here's where the CC0 comes in handy, but the CC licenses weren't made for software...)
Our § 29 UrhG explicitly denies the possibility to give up your copyright before your death. Austria has similar laws. So no, nothing is "public domain" in Germany.
(edit:) See also this discussion on Hacker News for broader details.