But the problem is not a [copyright], but the
[copyright] being held
too long. Take DOS for example -- true the [copyright] is in effect,
but there is no law to say after XYZ years of inactivity it becomes
public domain.
Actually, there is. (At least in the USA, which I assume is the
jurisdiction you're talking about.) The reason copyright has
effectively become perpetual is that various interests have managed to
arrange for the sunset time on copyright to increase by at least one
year per year.
Just another example of how broken intellectual property law is.
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