Is there a time after which software becomes automatically free?

[carls]

Typically, a copyright will expire a long, long time after the author is dead - between 70 and 120 years in the US, I think (we've mainly got Disney to thank for that one...). So, unless the copyright holder implicitly states that the work is placed in the public domain, theres pretty much nothing you can do.
Copyright law sucks. It's certainly not adapted to the advancements in technology.  And the copyright holders of old computer games generally do not seem to be interested in sharing the old games, even though they are clearly not available for purchase anywhere.

[carls]

If games automatically became free after a limited amount of time, then alot of people would just wait.

Well, in the case of computer games, would people wait ten years? Fifteen? I doubt it. Besides, with the rampant piracy, most people who don't want to pay, don't have to wait at all. I'm talking about what's basically abandonware here.

While perhaps not the case for computer games, I also feel that it's strange that the copyright holder can earn money from something another person, who long since passed away, produced.

The alleged author of the song "Happy birthday to you", with the current lyrics, passed away in 1938. Up until the rights were sold in 1998, a company with the sole purpose of collecting royalties for this song existed and was quite profitable. Currently the song is earning Warner Bros. $5000 per day. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You#Copyright_status)

To me, this is beyond madness.