@GeofCox @CStamp @duncanlock lots of people submit their works directly into public domain, or a similar sharing license. Thomas Jefferson setup the basis of the current copyright/patent regime - at first with 7 years to recoup the costs of creation, bumped up to 14 years, before a work enters the public domain - Jefferson also said “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lites his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.” and that "these monopolies produce more embarrassment than advantage to society" ... The idea that an authors great-great grandchildren should exclusively profit from somebody else's work is antisocial, we are all citizens of the world.

(Jefferson quotes pulled from this letter: press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founde )