In addition to being a prolific screenwriter and recent director, John August also keeps a blog on screenwriting. Here's an excerpt from a post called Why Writers Get Residuals:
→ Royalties allow for a middle class.
Publishers aren’t interested in financing the American dream, however. They simply want books and songs to sell to the world. They have a straightforward and related interest in keeping royalties flowing:
→ Royalties allow for a larger pool of talent.
Without royalties, there would be fewer people who could maintain a career as a songwriter or novelist. There would be fewer songs and books to publish. It’s in the industries’ best interest to keep writers writing, generating new work to make the publishers money.
