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I'm not a "Big Publisher" fan, but I can sympathize with them. I assume that the people employed there are generally into literature, and want to play their part in bringing more into the world. Scanning their backlists and re-publishing them as e-books doesn't require anyone with literary sense. You need a cheap scanner and converter, a proofreader, maybe an artist for the cover, and a manager or two. Plus some scripts for creating the actual files. The literary work was done when the book was first published. I'm sure these people want to work on their dreams, and are digging in their heels over dropping what they love to do and replacing it with assembly-line work. So, the backlists aren't a priority for those currently in the biz.
The problem I see is that, if the backlists become a priority as many here want, many of those who specialize in creating new books will gone. Sooner or later, their loss will have an impact on our developing culture.
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