Look at it another way: the scarce resource is not the stuff to read (there's a literal ocean of that these days), but readers' eye balls / time / attention spa

Look at it another way: the scarce resource is not the stuff to read (there's a literal ocean of that these days), but readers' eye balls / time / attention span & the money they care to spend. So a DRM-encumbered or high-priced ebook, will (for most readers) just find itself lower on the pile of potential reading material. Over time, that paywalled stuff will either be lost, or (popularity-wise) buried under free / open access material.