I took a quick google and came up with a couple of interesting things
on "public domain":
...
To me that says that unless you specifically copyright something, then
it is public domain, but if it is copyrighted, then you must
specifically release it into the public domain if it is before the
copyright expires.
I think you'll find those snippets were either out-of-context or
out-of-date.
Very interesting stuff to me. Also, in case it isn't completely and
totally obvious, this is a U.S. only thing, unless another country
recognizes U.S. copyright.
Most countries recognise US copyright.
Of course, that brings up another interesting point, is the wiki
hosted outside the U.S.? If it happens to be outside the U.S. what
happens when you post something to the wiki when you are a U.S.
citizen? If you copyright it, does it stop another U.S. citizen from
legally using it?
There are various international treaties that mean that the relevant
law is that of the country in which the work was created (or something
along those lines, I'm not sure of the details).
