Once they are released to the public, they are owned by the public, but on temporary lease to the copyright holder. Parent commenter only spoke to what should h

Once they are released to the public, they are owned by the public, but on temporary lease to the copyright holder. Parent commenter only spoke to what should happen with works released to the public. Any copyright holder who has supported (or whose estate has benefited from) extensions on copyright terms has stolen from the public in a way that all pirates combined have never stolen from the copyright holders.