Just look at how copyright has been turned from something useful to allow someone to make fair compensation off of an original idea for a period of time, into a legal-loophole for corporations to basically hold an indefinite monopoly on the works that they own:
From Wikipedia:
Quote:
Key laws regulating U.S. copyrights and their key effects include:
* Copyright Act of 1790 - established U.S. copyright with term of 14 years with 14-year renewal
* Copyright Act of 1909 - extended term to 28 years with 28-year renewal
* Copyright Act of 1976 - extended term to either 75 years or life of author plus 50 years, eliminated renewal option and registration requirement
* Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 - established copyrights of U.S. works in Berne Convention countries
* Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) of 1994 - restored U.S. copyright for certain foreign works
* Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 - extended terms to 95/120 years or life plus 70 years
* Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 - criminalized some cases of copyright infringement
* Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 - criminalized more cases of copyright infringement, permitted technology to "sanitize" works
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So somehow we moved from 28 total possible years of copyright (MORE than fair), to 120 years (longer than 99.99999% of people will ever live). If you can't see this is simply because corporations want to have indefinite control over works they have created, so that they can continue to sell you updated versions of that content, then you're a fool, and you deserve to lose the rights that are being actively taken from.
Don't be surprised in the year 2023 (when "Steamboat Willie" is next up for entering the public domain), when copyright terms get extended to a period of 150 years.
Copyright was meant to die with the author. It's patently clear that, because corporations never "die" (unless they go out of business), they intend to simply keep editing copyright law indefinitely. It's very sad that our representatives are selling away what is best for the people they are supposedly representing, just for the interests of a handful of corporations with very deep pockets.