Phrase to avoid:
A work “slips into” the public domain. This suggests that the process is uncontrolled, dangerous, accidental, unwanted.
Alternatives:
- A work is placed in the public domain (which suggests an active choice that the work become public)
- A work “returns to” the public domain (because copyright is a privilege granted by the government)
- A work enters the public domain (the simple, neutral variant)
- A work becomes freely available (without referencing public domain explicitly)
- A work rises into the public domain.
Debated phrases:
- A work “passes into” the public domain (because it suggests a passive, eternal resting state as in “passes on”)
- Digital Rights Management -> Digital Restriction Management
- copy protections -> copy restrictions (because it’s against copying, certainly not protecting it)
Although keyed to software and maybe reflecting a somewhat extreme point of view, the following well-known page from the FSF is a must-read:http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html
TakeDown.NET -> “Copyright-Term-Reform/Phrases-To-Use”