Found it --- from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlist >In the US, backlist and midlist publications were negatively

Found it --- from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlist >In the US, backlist and midlist publications were negatively affected by the US Supreme Court decision in the 1979 case Thor Power Tool Company v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. This decision reinterpreted rules for inventory depreciation, changing how book publishers had to account for unsold inventory each year, and their ability to depreciate it. Because stocks of unsold books could no longer be written down without proof of value, it became more efficient tax-wise for companies to simply destroy inventory.