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There are a huge number of sf short stories and even novels on Gutenberg (USA) which went out of copyright because the author failed to renew the copyrights under the USA's old 28 years plus renewal system.
Many writers of that era didn't expect that their stories would ever be published again, didn't understand copyright law, and let their stuff lapse. Randall Garrett is one such writer. The exact opposite is Asimov, very organised, who seems to have let only one story lapse, "Youth", which is on Project Gutenberg USA.
This is also true of novels, the vast majority of which sold out their initial print runs (if they were lucky!), saw no second edition, and were never heard of again. If it takes five or six years to sell a 1,500 copy print run, the author and publisher wouldn't have been the slightest interested in renewal many years later.
I sometimes think that the 28 years plus renewal system of the USA was the best of the bunch.
Of course, these stories are only PD in USA.
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