Lord of the Rings (1954-1955) has only recently entered the public domain for life+50 countries due to JRR Tolkien dying in 1973, despite the work being over 70 years old. It won't enter the public domain in life+70 countries until 2044.

Only recently are works written in the early to mid 1900s being released in the public domain. This limits the works to around the first world war. For example:

- HG Wells (Died 1946, Life+70 in 2017), works like War of the Worlds and The Time Machine.

- LM Montgomery (Died 1942, Life+70 in 2013), works like Anne of Green Gables -- In the US where publication + 90 years is in effect, her later works (after ~1925) are not yet in the public domain there.

With comic IPs, most are not yet in the public domain:

- Superman (1938, P+95 of 2034) and will only cover that incarnation of the character.

- Batman (1939, P+95 of 2035) and will only cover that incarnation of the character.

So the current copyright terms are very limiting for IPs that are nearly a decade old.