Hollyweird would’ve been bankrupt a decade ago if the copyrighted works of old that they continue to profit from had lapsed into the public domain AS WAS AGREED at the time of creation and sponsorship.
They have “classics” made by dead people that still bring in the dollars on cable, broadcast tv, home video, and limited theatrical rerlease, plus merchandising.
There aren’t as many “classics” from the past 40 years. The goal today is make your money back in the first week or bury it.
There was a period when ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ was in public domain and it proliferated in cheap nearly unwatchable prints. The studios do the best job of keeping those old films in good shape.