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It occurs to me that it is likely a little recognized fact that conferring exclusive rights to authors comes at a cost to everyone else; they get their gift of rights for free, but it is a burden on the taxpayers of the nations where those rights lie.
For example, as part of the TPP trade agreement negotiations New Zealand was required to extend copyright from 50 to 70 years. The cost of that to the nation was costed at around NZ$55million per year over the long term. That in a country of population a little under 5 million, so the cost of that extension is around NZ$11 per person per year over the long term (Source of the cost: NZ Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade TPP benefits and implications analysis).
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