Actually, smeezekitty's assessment is spot-on. In the digital age, terms such as Fair Use seem to go right out the window. Look at AutoDesk. They've made it illegal to even sell the hardcopies that cost you thousands on the secondary market. Why? Because they state in their TOS that you're only purchasing a single-user LICENSE that is only applicable to the original purchaser. They actively seek out and sue anyone that violates this, even if the package (And therefore the TOS) is STILL SEALED. It's crazy...
I'm not saying that people shouldn't be able to copyright ALL of their works, nor am I saying that they shouldn't be able to RENEW copyrights on their works. I'm saying that copyright shouldn't be what essentially amounts to a lifetime before it has to be renewed.
For anyone interested, go back and check how long copyright lasted back when Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse. You'll find that it was less than 10 years. You'll also find that at the time, corporations couldn't own copyright - only individuals. Further, you'll also discover that at that time, copyrights couldn't be handed down from generation to generation like an heirloom. It was essentially unrenewable if you died.
It's only since that time that we've allowed copyright to go crazy, to become the monster that it is today.
Personally, I'm all for copyright being able to be renewed for a FINITE amount of times. I'm all for it being able to be handed down from generation to generation - so long as the finite amount of renewals haven't expired. I'm all for corporations being able to hold copyright (ie so Disney Corp can keep hold of Mickey, Pluto, et al)... but again, with limitations.
Copyright was never intended to be forever, and was never intended to be stretched to the point that it has been today, where they can legally attack those that choose to sell items on the secondary market, or to share legitimately purchased items amongst friends and family, or to - God forbid - sue a parent who recorded their kid singing a popular song and posted it on youtube (and if you don't think that is where they're heading, then you have NOT been following the SOPA/PIPA/whateverthey'recallingittoday debates where lobbyists and their bought House/Senate reps keep trying to fast-track HUGELY open-ended laws that will grant obscene powers to copyright holders)
To me, the whole misunderstanding about copyrights and online and fair use and all of that is akin to the clueless Internet subscribers who I deal with every day in my job... these yokels think that because they purchase Internet service from my company, that I have to support their computers for Antivirus, software installation, hardware installation/failure, BSODs, printer mishaps, wireless routers, gaming devices, etc - none of which have anything to do with my service except that they can connect to something that can use my service or that they can be interfaced with my service via their end-user router. Crazy... it's like calling Ford to get them to install and support the new after-market radio that you purchased - free of charge - simply because you purchased the vehicle from them, and then getting pissy when they tell you that they can't do that (or will, but only if you pay extra for the service).
Lawmakers need to put Internet happenings in context of the real world before they go and blindly pass laws.... and they need to listen to their constituents again, rather than the guys lining their pockets.
Oh wait. Nevermind. I forgot... politicians in this day and age are corrupt and are only going to do just enough to stay in office so that their pockets can keep being lined.