A more harmonious option could be X years or until the authors death, whichever is higher. It preserves the “you own your work for your natural life”. Whether

A more harmonious option could be X years or until the authors death, whichever is higher. It preserves the “you own your work for your natural life”. Whether that’s what copyright should be is a separate question, and I think the answer is absolutely not, but easier to change gradually than all at once.