According to The Times Online, Britain is looking at changing their copyright law to extend copyrights by another fifty years.
US Copyrights currently last 90 years, which is about 80 years too long. Britain's copyrights are currently fifty years, so Beatles songs released in '63 are due to go public domain in 2013.
Well, I suppose that they can go ahead, and then in 2062 they can extend copyrights by another century...
(Funny story there - most movie goers were so ignorant they thought the mostly 1890 - 1910 music was contemporary for 1933, when the film was set. Some guy actually tried to tell me Marvin Hamlisch _wrote_ the rags!)
Anyway, a lot of movie and TV people just won't pay royalties (Drew Carey being a notable exception - his shows have 'real' Rock-'n'-Roll in them), so look forward to more lame music on TV, especially.
There's a very good reason copyrights expire, which has always been built into the system. A reason having nothing to do with royalties. The fact is, there are only so many ways to say something. That's why you can't copyright a book title.
When you start seeing (TM), (C) and (REG) next to things like "The Force," "Starship Enterprise" and the like, it's time to take a close look at the system.
Oh well -- at least I can still play Mozart!