No, they do not own it. Copyright law gives them legal ability to profit off of it for a limited time without having to compete with people copying it. After th

No, they do not own it. Copyright law gives them legal ability to profit off of it for a limited time without having to compete with people copying it. After this protection expires it is supposed to go to the public, to which it belongs. The whole point of copyright is to "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." If they want to destroy their works, then they can exist outside of the protection of the law.