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Actually, it's hardly irrelevant. Copyright has gone from protecting the average author to protecting the outliers. The history of copyright law is actually very much to the point and not switching horses in mid-river. Keep in mind that until 1976, copyright was 28+28, i.e. 28 year with a optional renewal of 28 years. At that point, copyright became author's life + 50 years. We all know that in the US, the driving force behind the extension of the copyright is the Disney corporation and the rights to Mickey Mouse.
So the real problem with copyright law is that the outliers are driving copyright law rather than the norm. To put this in perspective, you have a highway in Nevada. The vast majority of people can safely drive this highway at 70+ mph without any increase risk of accident. However, Great Aunt Millie is blind as a bat, can't really drive anymore, but insists on being behind the wheel, so she can't safely drive at speeds greater than 25 mph. So who do you set the speed limit for, the majority or Great Aunt Millie? With copyright, we have crafted the laws for Great Aunt Millie. While it might be in Great Aunt Millie's best interest to craft the laws this way, it isn't for society in general. The purpose of copyright law is to encourage authors and other artists to produce works. Quite frankly, I think that copyright law would be better served by simply granting all rights to Mickey Mouse to the Disney Corporation in perpetuity and going back to 28 + 28 for everyone else.
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