You remember correctly, but say hi to your new friend the Copyright Term Extension Act, aka the CTEA, Sonny Bono Act and "Mickey Mouse Protection Act." The bill, unsurpisingly, increaed the term of copyright 20 years, and was passed just in time to ensure that the earliest Mickey Mouse films didn't enter public domain. The bill even worked retroactively, giving another 20 years to works already created.

Now, you may say that's bullshit, since the Constitution requires that copyright be given "to promote the Public Good" and for "Limited Times", and giving extra time retroactively is not going to increase the number of works created in the past (since, like, it's the past and has already happened). A case named Eldred v. Ashcroft argued this very point to the Supreme Court last year, and recently lost on a 6-3 decision. Want to make a wager that copyright is extended again right around the year 2020? Jack Valenti, the head of the MPAA, did famously say that if the Constitution requires limited copyright, "forever less one day" would be acceptable to him. Looks like he's getting his wish.

There are a number of ROMs in the public domain, though (because the copyright holder placed them in the public domain), such as most of the Vectrex library. Download those at your leisure.