I agree with most of what you said but I don't think we've gone anywhere towards creating any kind of coherent legal framework.

How do you resolve the huge contradictions?

Interesting question that has occurred to me by the way: at the heart of this whole thing is how reproducing the physical representation of the non-physical object has become virtually free (when it was difficult and costly there was no issue). As this is the case, why do musicians need publishers? Why can't they just distribute it online?