Actually that’s not the purpose of copyright - people would be able to profit without copyright. You can argue about how much or how little they could profit, or how much more or less convenient it would be to consume their work. The purpose of copyright is to limit this period of exclusivity, and ensure that after the period expires, ownership reverts to the people. It’s a trade- government allows exclusive profit on the condition that it is temporary.

The problem is copyright has been perverted over the last hundred years, mostly by Disney, to the point that it is effectively permanent.