That's a really interesting comment. One of the things that works against authors is that they are forgotten once a few years are passed.

I wanted to do a screenplay of a book I loved (and still do). I contacted the copyright holder (it was 50 or 70 years at the time, I think).

He told me it would cost $100,000 just to write it - not to sell it. Just to write it. His loss. The screenplay, if it had ever been produced, would have restored the author to prominence. People are really shortsighted.