Cute story.. but how complex was the copyright law of this village? Did it allow for the resale of used copies of the works? Perhaps those villagers who were unwilling or unable to pay $1.25 might be willing or able to pay less for a used copy sometime later. Those villagers who held the works in the highest regard would pay for an unused copy immediately, so the authors would lose nothing from them. The less interested would still get to enjoy the works sometime later. Would anyone lose under this scenario?