Information may increase useful energy as has been explained in physics by the story of Maxwell’s demon (published in Nature 1867). Real-life versions occur and, in all cases, have their thermodynamic entropy lowering effects duly balanced by increase of thermodynamic entropy elsewhere. Increases of useful energy due to useful information are possible in open systems as thermodynamic entropy can exit the system and useful energy can enter it. In these systems, quantitative empirical evidence shows that increases in information correlate with increased useful energy in a multitude of different complex systems, from ant colonies to human society, and from music to legal norms. Thus we refer to useful information that reduces the actions of the second law of thermodynamics and increases the availability of energy that produces work.