Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
And only for those writer that have a "big enough" endowment at the end of their lives to justify it. Statistically, 99% won't...
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You're missing an important factor: authors usually can only get published via *exclusive* deals with publishers, at least for a given country. If the copyright is allowed to go into public domain, the publisher loses his monopoly on distribution. Thus, regardless of the value of the bibliography, publishers would like to lock up that copyright as long as possible. A writer who is about to expire is in a good position to bargain greater royalties (for his old family) from a publisher by agreeing to marry a young bride before it's too late.