@devxvda It's not just all about the author though in the case of the audio book.

I think a way to look at it would be to consider if a graphic novel version of the book were made, or even a tv/movie adaptation of the book.

While the content of the story could be exactly the same, the end result is a new piece of work that involved more/different creative people contributing.

And that deserves separate payment.

@Erzbet @devxvda Along those same lines, if someone creates a reading of “The Odyssey” by Homer, I would expect them to be paid even though the text is in the public domain.