An ebook, mp3, or other digital object can be considered an unlimited resource, the creator of said object is a limited resource, and they do deserve protection.
That said, authors and artists like the lady in the article are hurting themselves when they choose not to make their works available to people in the format they want, especially when it is very easy to convert those works into different formats, or at least easy enough that people are willing to do it.
This is really an excellent observation. Thank you for sharing.
One consequence, it seems, would be that a work would enter public domain as soon as the creator dies, since the only remaining resource (the digital work) is unlimited.
There definitely needs to be meaningful copyright reform. Having works of art enter the public domain upon the death of the creator seems pretty fair, although there should probably be an extension for cases where children under the age of 18 are involved. And, of course, there should be an absolute time limit on all copyrights in the cases where they're assigned to corporations.
That said, authors and artists like the lady in the article are hurting themselves when they choose not to make their works available to people in the format they want, especially when it is very easy to convert those works into different formats, or at least easy enough that people are willing to do it.