I “never” prescribed CC0 for everyone or everything!

It also bears considering that I am licensing photos CC0 (flowers, my dog, weird signs) which are much more granular than say something more substantial like a written piece of work, a book, a chapter, an adapted game.

It’s one thing to reuse someone’s photo, or quote from a paper, and lapse on the reference, and another thing to pass it off as your own work, for pride, reputation, or money. The former could be a lapse, or just sloppy/lazy, the latter is definitely theft, and always wrong. Yet, knowing someone’s intent is another thing.