I don’t get George’s lesser blame either. Studios and publishing houses don’t have the best record of respecting the wishes of the creator before something becomes a hit, but afterwards, they tend to follow the most ridiculous art-destroying notions as long as they can even theoretically be tied to the creator’s intent. So George doesn’t even have to contractually force Disney to keep the OOT off the shelves – all he has to do is clearly indicate the way he’d prefer them to be dealt with, and studio deference will take care of the rest, even long after he’s gone.

But IMO there is a difference between cashing in on an available property (Star Wars merchandising and tie-ins pre-1997), and cashing in on the fading collective memory of a property that nobody can actually have anymore (Star Wars merchandising and tie-ins 1997 and onward).