As if file-sharing weren't bad enough: according to the New York Times, an entire generation of recordings from the 1950s is about to lose copyright protection in Europe, where such recordings enjoy only 50 years of protection, as compared to 95 years in the United States.
Among the recordings that will lose protection are hits from such giants as Maria Callas, Elvis Presley and Ella Fitzgerald. American recordings have actually been losing copyright protection in Europe for a very long time--but, as the article notes, the 1950s represents a much more momentous move into the public domain because that was the decade in which records and recording techology really took off.
Although American albums will still be protected, many record companies are afraid of the possibility of much cheaper imports driving down the market. This fear has led some companies (such as EMI) to ally with smaller companies that they had previously tried to shut down; other companies, however, have begun calling for customs barriers, including the seizure of any European records being imported into the United States.