The basic problem for the publishers is technological advance.

Publishing became a big industry due to the invention of the printing press. And because publishing a book requires a printing shop that can be easily located by the police, it was practical to pass copyright laws that forbid counterfeiting.

With the invention of the internet, piracy become trivially easy and basically impossible to block, and so copyright laws are simply not enforceable. I think the publishing houses realize this, and are just trying to hold off their demise as long as possible.