The 'creative commons' is a recognition that cultural works are not created ex nihilo but by building on the works of previous generations; as creators benefit, so must they contribute.
A tremendous swath of people have been born or published works since 1928 and have since died, whose works remain under the perpetual Disney copyright.
So no, we have had generations die now that never contributed back to the commons because Disney said so.
In particular, we can observe that a huge chunk of literature effectively can't be consumed today because no one alive speaks the language it was written in (also, because no copies survive!). That's a much more effective ban on using the work than copyright is, and it's permanent. But it hasn't led to storytelling just gradually dying out because we forgot all the stories.