While you don’t pay for WordPress directly, you could be paying for it indirectly

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For example, if you host your website with Bluehost, Siteground, WPEngine or any other major WordPress hosting company, then you are indirectly paying for WordPress because all of these companies donate to WordPress on a regular basis.

If you use Yoast SEO , BackupBuddy , Sucuri or any of the products from the WPBeginner family (OptinMonster , WPForms , MonsterInsights , etc.), then you are indirectly paying for WordPress. All of these companies regularly sponsor WordCamps and/or contribute to WordPress.

I hope this helps you better understand the WordPress business model and clears up any concerns you may have on the matter.

What can we do to improve and clear up some of the confusion?
There is very little that can be changed in the domain situation due to the business models involved.

The only real way to solve the problem is education, which must consist of two parts.

The first and most important point is the role of the media.

Major tech media outlets like TechCrunch, list of malaysia cell phone number Recode, TheNextWeb, etc. need to do a better job of fact-checking and avoid articles that refer to Automattic as the parent company of WordPress. It could be as simple as saying the parent company behind WordPress.com.

You can simply google the term “WordPress parent company” and you will find tons of articles from major tech media reporting false information (example: here , here , here , here and here ).

The second role is played by the WordPress Foundation and Automattic.

These media outlets are usually made aware of these press releases, so if there is amplification in the major media outlets, the rest will follow.

When you see a WordPress booth at a blogger event, it's usually an Automattic (WordPress.com) booth. While the marketing language could be improved, the people answering questions at the booth are extremely helpful and almost always explain the difference.

At TBEX North America 2015, when we visited their booth, at least two people asked about WordPress ownership, and the Automattic staff explained the difference very well.