[pshrynk]

I propose a different method. I was going to say "new" but there really is nothing new under the sun, so this has probably been tried before.

an indivdual produces something, say a book. There is copyright on that book for 40 years, as outlined in the JBU article.

Then, if that book is so huge that a corporate entitiy needs to own it forever, they pay a large, painful sum to an international fund that polices copyright to own that piece of work forever. Maybe even a yearly, painful sum.

That way, artists can "own" their own work for long enough to benefit from it and Disney can keep the Rat all to itself in perpetuity without screwing up the protections afforded to individuals trying to make art for the rest of us.