Please elucidate. Post some URLs that give step-by-step instructions for "placing content into the public domain". Show some examples.
I've heard tell that it's almost impossible to currently, in the US, place anything in the public domain, so I'd love, love, love to see the process to do so. I'd do it myself for some software I've written.
There are a number of caveats, but bugsy is essentially correct in how to do it. It's those caveats that make life difficult.
I don't remember all of them, but you can't disclaim some things like moral rights (usually not applicable, but they relate to things like vandalism of the work & the right to attribution as the author and vary by jurisdiction), with some works like music, you can end up with the licensing organizations collecting royalties on it without your authorization, there are always trademark issues to consider, doubly so for some special trademarks like that of the Red Cross and the Olympics which are enshrined in laws that implement international treaties, and probably a host of other things, including strange things like common law copyrights (there was a case in NY about what should have been public domain music falling back under copyright a few years back).
So... yeah, you can disclaim your work into the public domain, but there are still gotchas out there and you need proper legal advice to avoid them even when you're using what should be copyright-free works, because there are all sorts of weird formalities like the requirement in the USA that copyrights can't transfer without a "written memorandum of transfer."
If you just want people to be able to use your software, I'd probably just use a BSD license instead of the public domain. It's permissive enough that it shouldn't create problems for anyone.
I hereby release the following original story into the public domain:
Once upon a time five philosophers came for dinner to eat fish. But there was no fish, or utensils to eat the fish. This was a sad day for the five philosophers. A servant boy was sent to buy five fine bowls of spaghetti and five plastic forks. The servant boy quickly succeeded at his mission, returned, and set the table for the five philosophers. They sat down and were about to start eating when one of the philosophers said, "Stop, no one touch a thing. This is a trap."
A person using CC0 (called the “affirmer” in the legal code) waives all of his or her copyright and neighboring and related rights in a work, to the fullest extent permitted by law. If the waiver isn’t effective for any reason, then CC0 acts as a license from the affirmer granting the public an unconditional, irrevocable, non exclusive, royalty free license to use the work for any purpose."
I've heard tell that it's almost impossible to currently, in the US, place anything in the public domain, so I'd love, love, love to see the process to do so. I'd do it myself for some software I've written.