[ufo]

In Germany a work can only enter the public domain after the copyright expires. The author is not allowed to waive their copyright and intentionally put their work in the public domain before that. If you want to make something available without restrictions you have to grant people a license to your copyrighted work.

[Isthatablackgsd]

Could you explain why Germany does not allow German to waive their copyright? I couldn't find the information about this.

[ufo]

One of the sticking points is that some countries do not allow the author to waive the Moral Rights over a work that they have produced.

https://opensource.stackexchange.com/questions/1371/how-can-...

[beervirus]

How strange. Is there any practical difference between waiving your copyright and granting everyone an unrestricted license?

[ufo]

One of the things that is different is the matter of Moral Rights such as the right to be attributed as the author of the copyrighted work. In some jurisdictions those rights cannot be waived. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights