Do YOU understand copyright law?

Copyright law has developed into a very complex set of rules and limitations that are often changed through court decisions. Copyright laws protect authors, software, music, dance, art, and videos. In Lawrence Lessig's The Future Ideas, he discusses how he believes that copyright laws have become too strict and lack on releasing information to the public domain after the copyright expires. No longer can individuals build on top of another’s work. A perfect example is seen with software. Companies have copyrighted software codes that have not amounted to anything. They have then gone out of business and this code is lost. Another computer software writer could have been able to take this code, build on it, and develop software that enhances what users can do with computers. I personally think that copyright has stifled creativity and innovation. If there were some type of database that keeps copies of every piece of copyrighted information then even with paying licenses to use the information or finding information that the copyright has expired can easily be found to be built on.