How do you feel about the current state of copyright law?  

Personally, I believe that not only the laws restrictive to the point of absurdity, but the application in the marketplace of ideas has made it even worse.  In fact, the marketplace is suffering as a result.

I had my first bad experience with copyright infringement several years ago when I was running a Yahoo writing group.  A fella posted a silly Haiku (I'm not a fan of Haikus anyway) and I posted a comment about it.  The subject of Haikus, however, prompted one writer to suggest that we put them together (several others dabbled in them) in one post for discussion.  I did so and was promptly threatened darkly because I had put his precious Haiku in a "collection."  In the same group, purely as a post.

Now, his claim of infringement may seem silly, but I researched it at length and he was actually right.  I had copied it for a "collection," even tho it stayed in the group and had his name attached to it--but I had done so without his consent first.

Take this a step further and write an article about the Mating Habits of Zebras for Sullivan's Short Stories.  You quote five lines from a zoologist and attach his names.  But are five lines too many?  Or ten?  Or should you just write and ask his consent down at Buenos Aires U. first?

I think photos actually illustrate the problem of today's copyright laws best--the principals apply just as well to writing.  Avariety of online sites are selling photos.  You want to use a photo of the Mona Lisa for your article.  The Mona Lisa is public domain.  But some vendor takes a photo and claims a copyright to it. John Q. Public thinks they own the Mona Lisa and they pay for the photo.  Frankly, I think many of these outfits don't even take the photo--they just alter one that someone else took (brighter, darker, whatever) and then sell it with a copyright on it.

All of lot of steam from me, I realize, and I could go on at length.  In aworld of 6.5 billion people, how safe is your work under current law, anyway?

I remember reading somewhere that no matter what you write, there's a fair chance that it's been written before.  I've written several stories where I thought my plot was surely original, only to discover later that a similar plot had been written before.

Mark Twain complained that the ancient writers stole all his ideas...

If ten thousand monkeys were pounding on ten thousand typewriters, at some point they'd probably infringe on someone's copyright.