After a novel became popular, many publishing houses would fight for the copyright. Why would they fight for it?

After the contract between the author and the publishing firm expired, the author would sell the copyright to the next publishing firm, right? In any case, there would be a queue, so why would they fight for it? Could it be that the publishing houses that were competing for copyright were all selling their books to the same province? These publishing houses are all from the same province? That way I can understand

Answer 1

After a novel became popular, many publishing houses fought for the copyright mainly because of the huge economic benefits of the novel's copyright.

The novel was a cultural product with a high degree of copyright protection. The sale of copyright could bring huge profits. If the copyright of a novel is owned by a single publishing house, then the book can be sold by multiple publishing houses, and each publishing house can earn copyright fees from it.

The publishing house could also expand the copyright revenue by adapting the novel into movies, TV series, games, comics, and other forms. If the copyright of a novel was owned by more than one publishing house, the publishing house could make more money by adapting the novel in different ways.

Therefore, after a novel became popular, many publishing houses would fight for the copyright in order to obtain more economic benefits.