"I've said it before and I'll say it again: Democracy just doesn't work." Kent Brockman may have had an insight here, but what is truly broken is Copyright Law™.
Myth: Copyrights lasts as long as they should.
My take: Copyrights were originally 52 year, later 20 years past the artist's death (to account for an increase in life expectancy). Today they are owned by corporations which have no death date.
Myth: Copyrights protect the artist
My take: Copyrights may marginally benefit the artists, but usually benefit the distribution companies
Myth: File sharing is killing the record industry
My take: File sharing often helps sales, and the drop in the record industry sales is likely due to really stupid decisions as they tried to guess what we consumers would want to buy.
For more information, see: http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2003-09-07-1.html
For more information on fair use, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo
The way you put it kind of puts this in a new light. Copyright policies are definitely going downhill. And for the time being, it doesn't seem like there's much to do about it. Maybe we should rethink this whole system.
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