It’s certainly finite when you have ridiculous copyright claims over very trivial elements like chord progressions and short ostinatos. There’s also the element

It’s certainly finite when you have ridiculous copyright claims over very trivial elements like chord progressions and short ostinatos. There’s also the element that composers, intentionally or not, borrow elements from earlier works all the time. I’d even argue that “remixing” is really the default state of affairs. I cannot name a single composer who hasn’t borrowed a melody from somewhere else. The only people that actually want complete originality are corporate lawyers.