The copyright law, as it currently exists in the US[0], is an unholy mess created by dozens of interest groups with more or less lobbying power.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with promoting creativity, arts, or making sure artists can live off their work. It has everything to do with how much muscle somebody had in negotiations and lobbying.
If you have doubts, read "How to suceed in the music business" and weep. (Film is worse, and for books, just read the OP)
[0] And most other countries I'm aware of, to a different/lesser extent.
Anything that requires courts will favor the large corps that have the money to spend endlessly on lawyers.
Patents keep the new guys out of the game.
Say a big company steals a product from a startup, guess who cannot afford the legal battle? If threatened, the big guys claim that ten of their not-quite-related patents were infringed by startup, and counter-sue.
From first hand experience, the patent keeps ideas out of use (all patent lawyers recommend submarine patenting any new ideas instead of developing them), hurt small companies and inventors, and are huge bludgeon against anyone that the big cos want to hit.
The US is trying everything to force their copyrights down the rest of the world's throat as well. Switzerland was added to the US copyright watch list[1] because its copyright laws are a bit less draconian.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with promoting creativity, arts, or making sure artists can live off their work. It has everything to do with how much muscle somebody had in negotiations and lobbying.
If you have doubts, read "How to suceed in the music business" and weep. (Film is worse, and for books, just read the OP)
[0] And most other countries I'm aware of, to a different/lesser extent.