[pshrynk]

My understanding of copyright (being from a purely lay pov) is that it exists to allow a person to create a piece of artistic work and then have control over it for the remainder of that person's life. Then the heirs to that estate have some time to benefit from the person's creativity vefore the work becomes in the public domain.

This is as it should be. I'm a world famous writer (of fantasy, obviously) I want to write but loathe fans. So I write and publish a few things, but don't put out the bulk of my work. Living off the proceeds of those few bits of deathless prose I deign to release.

When I die, my wife, breathing a heavy sigh of relief, then publishes as much of what I produced as quickly as possible to cash in on the treasure trove burried in my office. She gets to do this for a certain number of years before it no longer is covered by copyright.

My estate cashes in on my popularity to the extent that it develops a multinational megaconglomerate that rules the world with an iron fisted, evil intent. They get a has-been rock star to run for congress and then sponsor a bill that allows them to never, ever, risk anything of my work being in th public domain.

At what point did this turn into something wrong?

When you can answer that question, you truly understand comedy.

Or something like that.