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So if I come up with an idea that becomes quite popular I and my offspring should not reap the benefits? No. Don't think so. An idea is a man's work. I agree there should be some sort of limitations but I think they should be graduated.

Well, I think even in the original terms of copyright, there was a minimum time frame for collecting royalties. But that should be set up through your estate. So even then it really is transferring ownership, its just your not alive any more to collect. But our society isn't really interested in fair, only whats in it for "me".

Here's the thing in this situation. *You* came up with the idea, not your offspring. You should be able to reap the rewards, yes, and you can will to your offspring however much of that you wish. But your offspring, who did not create the idea, should absolutely not be able to reap rewards, on their own, of an idea they themselves had nothing to do with. They don't deserve a monopoly on the idea, perhaps you did but they do not. We're not talking about sales of property, we're talking about limited monopolies on ideas. It's one thing if you create something and your offspring continue to keep a business selling whatever it is. They deserve their income from their own continuing business. But they should never be able to sit back and profit from royalties of your idea once you're gone. While you're alive, give them however much of it you want, that's your own business.

If I build a house, can I leave it to my offspring when I die?
If I paint a picture, can I leave it to my offspring when I die?
Yet if I write a song, a book, or any one of these new fangled "intellectual property" things they should go into the public domain when I die?

Unless you're going for a complete reform of inheritance law, what you're advocating has some rather glaring discrepancies. That way, everything you own enters the public domain when you die and you can leave nothing to your heirs.

You're making the usual incorrect comparison between tangible items of limited availability and intangible items of unlimited availability.

The difference is that it's a monopoly and not property being discussed here.

Having restrictions on whether on not you can make your own copies of (insert thing here) is unjust and should only be for very limited times, not life plus seventy years.