You're a lot smarter than you look?
And there's no such thing as copyright protection. Anything that's created is immediately available in the public domain. So why the hell should I bother to spend a year or two years or five years of my life creating my creative masterpiece when I won't realize any return from it because as soon as I release it, anybody who wants to can rip off copies and sell them (or give them away) without my having any say in the matter? There's no point in my being creative, so instead of doing something creative, I'll just take a 9:00 to 5:00 job selling washing machines and ranges at Sears
Exactly, and what makes most people happy most? Money. Reward.
I thought a bit more about the part of maks post I may not have given as much weight as I could have. Why should I EVER have to give up rights to what is essentially my property. I'd vote
infinite. What about family heirlooms? Passed down from generation to generation, generating value over time. At some point should the item suddenly become part of the public domain and my family lose it's valuable heirloom? Isn't a work of art an heirloom as well? Paintings certainly are.
Shakespeare is a great writer back there whever he lived, his stuff is all copyrighted. His heirs are going to forgo their rights and let his books fade into obscurity losing all that potential income. Seems highly unlikely.
I think it's more about courtesy. If my idea helps you make money you should be courteous enough to WANT to give me a little piece. Me, personally. I almost feel like it's a friggin honor to say I'm responsible for putting a few bucks into the pockets of the families of oll those long ago writers. Hoagy Carmichael? yea, I don't mind sharing a little of the scratch with him at all.