Fuck them. Copyright law is idiotic and retarded. No one can own an idea. It used to be 7 years, that's all an author, songwriter, movie producer, painter, whatever had before his/her works became public domain unless the author paid for another 7 years (It was a 30 dollar fee in 1920). There was no second renewal. Disney was amazing at this, Pinocchio being released in theatres the day after it fell into public domain, meaning it was animated and acted while the author still owned it however once the money started coming in it all went to Disney.
It wasn't long before Mickey Mouse was on the verge of the public domain that Disney started petitioning and suing to prevent this from happening. 18 or so months later copyrights were extended. However Mickey Mouse was public domain for three months but retroactively placed in the private domain (that's theft in my eyes.)
After Romero's Dawn of the Dead was released without the copyright logo (its the one of the few pieces of commercial fiction to turn public domain since Mickey Mouse. All of which were due to red tape fuck ups.) The laws were changed that so long as the work can be dated its copyright (the works that fell through those cracks were not stolen from the public)
Now the copyrights of any body of written work, music, cinema, etc. will last almost double the average human lifespan and I suspect it'll be extended further when Mickey's threatened again.
Other complete bullshit is things like that Disney has sued and won against a director who wanted to make a Beauty and the Beast picture.There's no fucking way a French fairy tale is owned by Disney.
Long story short: fuck the publishers, the corporations, the labels and the idiot politicians who passed those laws (I don't think they were ever officially passed outside the States but trials have been awarded to the distributors in Canada and most of Europe.)