Of course there's a good reason: copyright exists to motivate the production of creative works, but creators typically are not motivated by the thought of royalties 80 years down the road.
Also, real/personal and intellectual property differ enough that I don't think the analogy from your second paragraph is particularly instructive. For example, with physical property I can't think of any obvious analogs to remixes and derived works.
> But they probably wouldn't be less motivated by longer expirations.
Sure they would be: properties that are valuable more than a handful of years after they are first published are rare enough that the chance of achieving that is a minor factor in motivation, but the existence of such properties under extended protection both reduces the potential for and reduces the market value of new works, reducing the motivation for new creators more than the slight chance of producing such a work increases it.
> But they probably wouldn't be less motivated by longer expirations.
If expirations were shorter, say 20 or 30 years after the publication of a work, wouldn't creators be motivated to keep creating so as to not suddenly lose a stream of income?
Also, real/personal and intellectual property differ enough that I don't think the analogy from your second paragraph is particularly instructive. For example, with physical property I can't think of any obvious analogs to remixes and derived works.