Copyright seems not to have prevented them from being created...and yet paid the copyright holders.
But notice that copyright is only upon a specific expression of an idea, not upon the idea itself.
There are many expressions of Ovid's "star-crossed lovers" of Pyramus and Thisby. All of the latest specific expressions of that story are copyrighted, which does not prevent new expressions ever few years, such as Romeo and Juliet (in several versions), "West Side Story," "Romeo Must Die!," "Gnomeo and Juliet," et cetera.
I could write this story: A young Afghani farm boy's family is killed during a wedding ceremony by an American drone. The boy is taken under the wing of an old Mujahadeen who had fought against the Soviets during their invasion. The boy himself is radicalized when the old Mujahadeen is killed by an American combat patrol and then joins the resistance against the invaders. He later becomes a major player in a successful attack against an American base.
Of course, that's just "Star Wars: A New Hope." Same idea, different expression, and can be copyrighted as such...by me.