Inspired by this thread I am wondering if, on his or her (or its) own volition, can a copyright holder renounce a copyright? I’m not talking about selling or otherwise transferring it to another party. I’m talking about the copyright holder giving up all claims, rights, duties, etc, associated with the copyright. If it’s possible, what happens to the work? Does it immediately pass into the public domain?
A copyright holder can authorize any use of the work he wants, including things like free reproduction for accredited educational institutions, etc. He could also allow anybody to do anything, although he could still retain the copyright and, I suppose, change his mind later.
I don’t know how one would void the copyright (as opposed to keeping it but allowing free use) and allow it to pass to the public domain.
Technically, something passed into the public domain if its copyright term has lapsed.