I would guess that the main financial motive for ever-increasing copyright terms is strictly anti-competitive, in the sense that the studios are attempting to a

I would guess that the main financial motive for ever-increasing copyright terms is strictly anti-competitive, in the sense that the studios are attempting to avoid competing with their own back-catalogs. There is more decent entertainment out there already than any one person could properly appreciate in their lifetime; the only way the studios can ensure a market for their more recent works is by banning all the older ones.