consider that there are amazing things, right now in human existence that will exist, but do not at this moment. money fundamentally is about resource allocation. such things are less likely to be discovered without incentive. money is part of that incentive (though not the only thing).
the problem is that copyright has become too overzealous and too long lasting. ideally imho it would be exponentially decaying in length based on use, or exponentially expensive to keep an exclusive right to. or perhaps right of first refusal around anyone who wants to use it being able to bid for the opportunity. there are many improvements that could be made, yes.
in my view copyright should be use it or lose it. I do agree with your sentiment in that many people hold copyright to things that they are not actually using.