It's even worse than that, actually. Copyright has become a virtual 'entitlement' for authors and artists families. It's now been extended to 50 years after the death of the author. The copyright on Sherlock Holmes only ran out a few years ago, for example. (Hmm, my reference says Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930... which would mean the copyright ran out in 1980. I'd swear it was only a few years ago I heard the story about the copyright expiring on Sherlock Holmes. Must be getting old and misremembering things...
) The copyright on Tolkien's works will run until 2023 at least since he died in 1973. Joseph Heller just died Last year if I recall correctly (my reference isn't new enough to list it) so the copyrights on Yossarian and Milo Minderbinder and associates will run until 2050.
[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 25 August 2001).]