The system somehow allowed John le Carre and Andy McNab to protect their work and identity years before the world got to know of David Cornwell, or McNab's real

The system somehow allowed John le Carre and Andy McNab to protect their work and identity years before the world got to know of David Cornwell, or McNab's real ex-SAS identity. So is losing anonymity in copyright a recent innovation? That an artist cannot have a pen name and remain anonymous seems to be a fault with the current system, not with the choice to remain anonymous.