united-states wills public-domain
Can I release all my copyrighted works into the public domain upon my death?
<p>I would like all my copyrighted works into the public domain immediately upon my death (rather than the current United States law specifying that it will be released 70 years after my death). Is this possible to do, for instance by putting a statement to that effect in my last will and testament?</p>

<p>To clarify, I would like this to be for all works not otherwise specified in my will, including those unpublished. For instance, if I scribbled something on the back of a napkin that becomes valuable after my death, I want it to be in the public domain instead of retaining copyright.</p>

<p>Under US copyright law, all works are protected by copyright except for <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/105" rel="noreferrer">US Government works</a>. The concept of "public domain" is not legally well-defined, and is used colloquially to refer to government works, works whose protection has expired, works available to all, and works not copyrightable (such as scientific laws or old software). Under older copyright law, releasing a work without the copyright symbol effectively put the work in the public domain.</p>

<p>One can simply say "I dedicate this work to the public domain", and that is typically taken to be enough. CC0 purports to do this (using more words). However, as far as I can tell, author rights under European law are so strong that it is simply impossible. Releasing works into the public law has to be consistent with other aspects of the law. If you grant an perpetual exclusive right to copy and distribute to a publisher, their right does not go away on your death (a right which they would not have with a real public domain work).</p>

<p>A problem is that an author who makes such a dedication (a bare license) could revoke the license and reassert their copyright. They could be estopped from making that argument. As property, your heirs would inherit the copyright and could (try to) revoke the license. Presumably the courts would not allow them to pursue ostensive infringers. Nevertheless, your plan is neither trivial nor bullet-proof.</p>

<p>Yes, you can.</p>
<p>If you write a will, putting all your work titles under CC0 and announce it &quot;<strong>irrevocable</strong>&quot;, and publicly distributing those works via websites (youtube, flickr gives you option to choose the license you want; as for text, just put it up in a website or blog and claim it CC0), adding irrevocable CC0 copyright claim.  And you've got it Public Domain technically.</p>
<p>BUT if your work is previously published via other publishers, that's another story.</p>
<p>I think content creators should learn from your generosity.  I'm using CC works to build content and I think once you've done that, your work will be spread all over the world.</p>
<p>Some people claimed that it won't work in Europe.  Well, isn't it a basic human right for the creator of the content to decide how the work should be disbtributed?</p>
<ul>
<li>Adding CC0:  <a href="https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/</a>
All you need to do is announce it and release it to CC0.</li>
</ul>
