It depends what you mean by rare. In the UK it's a story because it's happened to Agatha Christie and Roald Dahl. Christie is the biggest selling fiction author of all time. Roald Dahl is among the biggest selling children's authors of all time—he's on a par with Tolkien for sales. So it's not that rare.
To add to this. James Bond is currently being rewritten. Disney have banned stories by Don Rosa to be published again. Pippi Longstocking was rewritten after the authors death. Tintin went through court in Belgium in an attempt to ban it. It's definitely happening to a lot of well-known stories and isn't a fringe movement that OP is claiming.
