Indeed, I remember a fascinating panel re: copyright at WisCon some time back. There I learned (from the fabulous Laura Quilter) that there was a financial setup that predated Western copyright (i.e., the ability to control who copies your artistic efforts and who benefits from its sale). This was artistic patronage. If you were fortunate, you found a very rich person who was willing to pay for your artistic productions -- painting, music, sculpture, plays. They'd display your work in one of their many houses or palaces. Maintaining a happy relationship with one's patron ensured one's livelihood. There weren't any galleries or public theaters or "music in the schools" programs.

I wonder if the iniquitous privatization of all levels of government has played a hand in the current mess. If the most important metric is transforming every government element into an "enterprise," and squeezing the most money out of it, to boot, then we grow up without knowing how to make our own music and plays and art. I think humans need art, desperately, and so we take it.