As long as possible. If you own the rights, then you can sell it, license it, give it away or whatever. A system whereby you have to reassert your rights regularly removes control from you. If it is assumed that the creator of the product owns their own rights, then it is their choice as to what they do. If it is enforced externally by legislation that an author or composers copyright has to be reconfirmed every few years or copyright is removed entirely, then the creator no longer has control. There will be no incentive for those who derive an income from the licensing of the rights of their music.
See this discussion for an interesting idea that we disagree with and the ensuing discussion.
New Music Strategies – How long should music copyright be?
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Music Insight 
“As long as possible. If you own the rights, then you can sell it, license it, give it away or whatever.”
You can’t do any of those things if you’re dead, yet “as long as possible” thinking has extended copyright well beyond the lives of creators.
“There will be no incentive for those who derive an income from the licensing of the rights of their music.”
Well that’s silly. That’s like saying, “if you change copyright, there will be no incentive for people who rely on copyright the way it is now.” You could make that argument for not changing anything, ever.
There are new incentives, different incentives, different business models. To suggest otherwise impairs your ability to think clearly about whether the current state of copyright is best or not.
“You can’t do any of those things if you’re dead, yet “as long as possible” thinking has extended copyright well beyond the lives of creators.”
You can will your copyright to people.
“Well that’s silly. That’s like saying, “if you change copyright, there will be no incentive for people who rely on copyright the way it is now.” You could make that argument for not changing anything, ever.”
I have found that in every discussion about copyright, that no-one changes their mind, and to dive into super detailed discussions, may in this case be fruitless and that is also not the point of the blog. What is important is that everyone is entitled to an opinion and that people should be aware of those opinions and when they make choices, they are at least making informed ones.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to comment, it is appreciated.