How about actors? They produce a thing (content) that is sold for a prolonged period of time. Copyright is what, 20 years?
How would Disney feel if the salary paid to the cast of the Avengers was no longer an expense in that year, but amortized over the entire copyright period of the film.
That’s how it used to be until a special rule was introduced allowing only $15m (or maybe $20m) to be expensed instead of capitalized.
Doesn’t change much for the Avengers films which have production costs around $500m. Disney still has to capitalize 97% of the cost. $15m doesn’t cover a single star’s salary.