@roland @fsf @fsfe if you contribute to the GNU project it might make sense to assign copyright to the FSF. Afaik some projects require it and for some it is optional. Other projects has something similar, e.g. KDE uses FSFE's Fiduciary Licence Agreement. If you have your own project you might consider joining a umbrella project like GNU or KDE. In general I think copyright assignment can be useful for two reasons. (1) you don't have to care about legal stuff. (2) if you no longer care about your code, or in case of death, you can be sure that someone will control and handle the copyright in your interest. But in order to make sure that someone really decides in a way you like it (e.g. let's say what's best for software freedom) you have to be careful to whom you assign copyright. // By @bes