[injb]

If it's just a drawing of a mouse, then anyone can create the same value by just drawing a different mouse. Of course, you can't because of the millions of dollars that have been pumped into that particular mouse. That investment is what the copyright laws are protecting.

I would say that if something doesn't get published when there is a guaranteed, government-backed monopoly in place, then it's even less likely to get published when there isn't.

I don't think it's common for stuff to go unpublished when no one can find the copyright holder. In that case, just publish it and wait to see who complains.

[999900000999]

I guarantee monopoly is fine, but does JK Rowling really need another billion dollars off of book she wrote 30 years ago. She would be just fine if Harry Potter was public domain after a modest 25 years. Keep in mind that would only apply to the original book, if Warner Brothers makes another movie that would be under its own 25-year copyright. What we have now is this weird system where so much of our collective heritage is basically walled off.

Mega Corp doesn't like a movie they made 40 years ago, so now no one can ever watch it again?