Most "pirates" of vintage software are NOT making a profit, and likewise, the original author(s) or companies aren't, either.
Copyright has purposes other than profit. Some people do not want their work disseminated, or only want it distributed under particular terms.
Copyright
absolutely does NOT last forever. Read the law:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap3.html
Technically, you're correct. But in practice, Unknown_K is correct. At the rate that things are going, copyright law is being extended more quickly than some things are falling out of copyright protection. Usually, big "content" pays big dollars to lobby to extend copyright law in order to protect their own interests -- which is why we see this happening. For example, a law up in Canada is called the "Lucy Maud Montgomery" law because her estate was lobbying for it. The U.S. has seen similar lobbying and even more extreme laws in this matter.
