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To me, it's not an issue of engaging in this action or that one in order to make the work available for free to readers. It's about freeing it up for innovation by others as part of our shared cultural heritage. For instance, Gregory Maguire could not have written Wicked if he was not able to draw upon the public domain classic Wizard of Oz.
And it's also a reciprocal respect issue: as you, the writer, were enriched during your education by these other authors and were free to draw upon their public domain materials for this sort of creative adaptation, so should other writers down the line be able to benefit from and use your creative works when they enter the public domain. Even Shakespeare drew upon other sources. It's part of creative life. You take, but then you give back later.
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