Everything creatively produced is copyrighted automatically. In germany the copyright extends from the moment it was created until 70 years past the date the creator died.
This time of protection is rather long - incredulously long. Most pieces are only popular for a few years, maybe a decade - and the author should have all rights to the creation as long as they live. After all, they might have had certain visions with their creations and they don't need anyone else to dabble in such worlds ... but 70 years past that date ... the author can't even do anything anymore with what they created.
At that date the publishers do - or at least try to - make money of any work that is left. While they clamp down on anything related to what the original author protested, many good works may be suppressed and never see the light of day.
Of course there are the Creative Commons licenses nowadays, but I wonder, if I could go a step further, and proclaim that my works become public domain immediately after my death? That should be possible, shouldn't it?
I think the story I'm putting up on steemit would be a good candidate for that ...
What do you think, dear reader - [irony]from which I have quite a lot[/irony] ?