I used to think that copyright should expire and works fall into the public domain. Over the years, though, I have reversed my thinking. All we have to do is imagine the copyright issue from a personal point of view. If we created a work of lasting artistic integrity wouldn't we want to control that work throughout our lifetime and then have our descendants benefit from our creativity? It would be equally beneficial to our heirs if they were able to continue collecting residuals and percentages on our original contracts with publishers, film studios, music labels, etc. In regards to film and music, I agree that the studio and label will most likely maintain the original materials better than anyone else (although there have been exceptions).