How do publishing companies legally collect income from old texts by authors such as Livy, Machiavelli etc?

I mean ancient authors who have supposedly been dead for quite some time? Ceaser, Plato and the likes.How do publishing companies legally collect income from old texts by authors such as Livy, Machiavelli etc?
"Supposedly" :-) I saw Plato in my local library just the other day. I think he was hiding from Machiavelli...

Publishers collect money from these old texts because it's not illegal. If a text is in copyright (author is still alive, or has been dead less than 70 years (varies from country to country)), the publisher needs the author's permission to print copies and sell them. Once the text goes out of copyright, anyone can do whatever they like with it, including printing copies of it and keeping all the profits themselves - which is what the publisher in fact does.

EDIT: Eoforhilda has a good point about translations. A translation of a text has a separate copyright from the original text. For instance, all of Plato's work is out of copyright (actually, it was never in copyright, because copyright laws didn't exist before about the 18th century). If someone was to prepare a new translation of one of his works now, that translation would be in copyright for the duration of the translator's life, and for 70 years after he died. He (or whoever he sold the copyright to) would be entitled to royalties from it for that time, and could prevent other people from profiting from it. However, he couldn't prevent anyone else from making their own translation of the same work and profiting from it.

Once the copyright in a translation has expired, anyone can print and sell copies of it, the same as with the original text.How do publishing companies legally collect income from old texts by authors such as Livy, Machiavelli etc?
Are you reading Plato in Greek from the manuscripts? Somebody collated the various texts to come up with an authoritative edition and somebody translated that text into English, or whatever language you read it in (assuming you did not learn classical Greek at your mother's knee). Then somebody else put that text into the print or e-format that allowed it be disseminated to more than one reader at a time. Surely all that work is worth some payment.

I see Steven beat me to it with the copyright explanation. Thumbs up.How do publishing companies legally collect income from old texts by authors such as Livy, Machiavelli etc?
They print them and sell them. Simple as that. And they don't have to pay royalties. You can do the same. They are in the public domain for all to use as they wish. Of course since anyone can print them but usually cant charge much more than costs as someone else could easily undercut them ( unless of course they are especially nice editions.).

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