Is there a time after which software becomes automatically free?

[EDanaII]

When playing a game I always thought of extra stuff I would have wanted in the game. A prime example of this is Colonization where I always wondered - like many others - why the Portuguese and other nations where not added (memory concerns?), or the lack of some type of unit, etc., etc., etc..

Therefore I was wondering, is there a time by which software automatically becomes free, and one is allowed to de-compile, fix, compile and distribute (free of course)? Would this be feasible?

This is more feasible: http://www.freecol.org/