It is, legally, difficult to divest yourself of copyright. Some people say it's possible, some people say it isn't.
It's not difficult to divest yourself of your exclusive rights under copyright. Which is what the WTFPL accomplishes. It's a subtle but significant distinction.
Similarly, you could:
1. Simply disclaim any copyright interest. "I disclaim all copyright interest in this work."
2. Disclaim any exclusive rights: "I disclaim all rights under copyright in this work."
3. Allow others any exclusive rights: "I grant to all parties any exclusive right under copyright."
Etc.
The fundamental problem is that under Berne Convention copyright, which dates to the early 20th / late 19th century (I'd have to check) in at least some jurisdictions, copyright is manifest at creation in any work. Which means these very words as I'm writing them. And there's no procedure for disclaiming those rights.
The Berne Convention rules have been adopted widely particularly since the 1970s.
Again: there are those who disagree that you can't claim a work is "uncopyrighted", but the ambiguity of such a comment (and the trivial means by which that ambiguity is removed) makes certain uses highly imprudent.
It is, legally, difficult to divest yourself of copyright. Some people say it's possible, some people say it isn't.
It's not difficult to divest yourself of your exclusive rights under copyright. Which is what the WTFPL accomplishes. It's a subtle but significant distinction.
Similarly, you could:
1. Simply disclaim any copyright interest. "I disclaim all copyright interest in this work."
2. Disclaim any exclusive rights: "I disclaim all rights under copyright in this work."
3. Allow others any exclusive rights: "I grant to all parties any exclusive right under copyright."
Etc.
The fundamental problem is that under Berne Convention copyright, which dates to the early 20th / late 19th century (I'd have to check) in at least some jurisdictions, copyright is manifest at creation in any work. Which means these very words as I'm writing them. And there's no procedure for disclaiming those rights.
The Berne Convention rules have been adopted widely particularly since the 1970s.
Again: there are those who disagree that you can't claim a work is "uncopyrighted", but the ambiguity of such a comment (and the trivial means by which that ambiguity is removed) makes certain uses highly imprudent.