I wonder how much these record labels paid their artists at the time, and exponentially how much more they have made in returns that these artists and their estates will never see, especially the African-American artists like Billie Holliday, Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald.
If the labels were smart, they’d leave well enough alone, considering what’s going on with the writers/actors strike right now. These labels have made literal billions off the work of artists, most of whom saw a fraction of that at best.
Not only is public goodwill not unlimited, the best way to ensure that something becomes archaic and then forgotten is to lock it up behind paywalls. Music that gets listened to is music that gets talked about. Music that cannot be heard or discussed, even under fair use, because copyright attorneys descend on on any playback of it like ravenous wolves, is music that gets forgotten.