The problem that I see is not the Mark Twains but the vast majority of other authors.
Their works go out of print but they're still copyrighted so people can't legally reproduce them (for profit or otherwise).
My grandfather was a published author with some success but he's dead and his stuff is no longer in print.
No one in my family is going to see revenue from his work.
No one outside of his generation (when he was successful) will ever have a chance to read his books as they're impossible to find now.
Most books written in the 20th century are basically gone from public availability.[1][2]
Their works go out of print but they're still copyrighted so people can't legally reproduce them (for profit or otherwise).
My grandfather was a published author with some success but he's dead and his stuff is no longer in print. No one in my family is going to see revenue from his work. No one outside of his generation (when he was successful) will ever have a chance to read his books as they're impossible to find now.
Most books written in the 20th century are basically gone from public availability.[1][2]
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/the-m...
[2] https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/How_Copyright_Keeps_Works...