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It's a big issue, the conversation probably needs to be had about patents as well. Maybe the solutions in this case lie somewhere in the middle of lowering the periods, but giving the copyright holder more latitude during that period in preventing others from profiting from derivative work or outright theft.
OTOH, some would argue that at the core there exist only a limited number of characters, situations, stories and that all modern works exist only by "stealing" from the masters... SciFi authors have written(in jest?) of keeping a core set of literature and generally outright stealing from the masters and turning plot elements on their head coupled with changes in setting, time period, etc. to produce works where one might see obvious similarities, but where is the line? Is it a word, a sentence, paragraph, a notion, a concept, relationships, a narrative background or situation or some varying mix thereof?
Imagine this same problem with music, patents, worse yet software patents... ugh. Couple it with the proliferation of 3D printers and associated technologies. It's going to get very complicated as technology places great capability in nearly anyone's hands... OTOH, increased access to technology will allow a far greater number of people to participate in innovation than ever before.
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