Fee collection can be handled through subscriptions or download fees. The real issue is selection. There are too many texts to choose from. In addition to the mechanics, publishers provide a brand. Readers use the brands to help them choose, writers get legitimacy and fee collection.
Critics have a large role to play, but from a preselected pool.
Now the pool is anyone, anywhere. Eventually, they won't be able to. The public can go direct. But the public will be more and more bewildered and will look for brands. Or for some pointers from those helpful experts and professors.