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Originally Posted by Kyuu
I can understand Copyright expiration dates for INVENTIONS, where an inventor/patent holder is granted a lifetime.
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20 years, actually, in the US or Europe. Could be more or less depending on the country. (and they're called patents, for inventions.)
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How about Copyright expiration dates for MEDIA? Considering the vast quantity of media creation vs actual inventions -- the expiration dates for media should be MUCH MUCH SHORTER.
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"Should"? Why? Patents expire so that eventually everyone can share in the new technology even if they can't afford to pay for a license or the inventor himself wants to keep it to himself. That's because technical progress for all is considered more important than the financial interests of the inventor.
But who cares if you can't use the Beatles for your "please hold the line" music?
(My personal opinion is that I don't care either way as long as anime and movies keep coming, and they don't need copyright to last forever for that. Culture will sort itself out.)