The number 70 rang some bells. I half remembered a headline about Cliff Richard lobbying to have music copyrights extended, and something about 70 years. A search turned up this in which it says that copyright (in the US) has been "life +50 years" since 1976. And that was extended to "life+70 years" as of 1998.

And according to this, the EU already has the same life+70 time limits for authors and songwriters. And as of 2008 is seeking to extend the coverage for performers from life+50 to life+70.

I assume that programmer's copyrights, where they are the holders, are covered by the same legislation. I wonder how many programmers have ever received royalty payments?

Where companies hold copyrights, it seems they where recently extended from 75 to 95 years.