Adding to the obvious fact you don't have a clue...Mario Puzo himself signed the deal with Paramount, not Anthony.

Good point, I had forgotten about that. Regardless, it only reinforces the fact that the current notion of IP "protection" is a farce. Puzo sold the franchise to Paramount so he could make more money, not so he could protect the integrity of the franchise. Two inferior sequels and a crappy game later just goes to show how well the the frachise has been "protected." In the end, I guess it's all about the money as the Godfather franchise is being passed around like a whore.

The government would be protecting those very corporations that own the IP's to begin with.

That's only if a corporation owns the IP. If the IP is buried with its original creator, the government would protect it from everyone.

Not to mention with your method, tax-payers would be footing the bill for defense lawyers instead of Paramount.

That's one potential downside, yes, unless the government didn't hold trials for copyright infringement and simply fined/killed anyone who committed it. One can always dream.

If this Estate was controlled by "joe-blow & sons holdings co." and they filed the suit on behalf of the Puzo estate, would you feel any better about it?

As I mentioned earlier, if Anthony Puzo doesn't see any of the money he wins from the lawsuit and if that money goes to charity or something then hey, that's great. In the more likely event that the money goes to Anthony, then this is all about greed, as I've repeatedly stated throughout this debate. Simply put, people shouldn't get money for things they haven't contributed to.

It really comes down to this: Did Anthony Puzo create the Godfather? No. Did he write the books? No. Did he make the movies? No. Did he make the game? No. Does he have a legal contract with Paramount that gives him royalties on these things? Yes. Given his total lack of involvement with the creation of these things, does he actually deserve any royalties from them? No.