“It would never enter a publisher’s mind that they were obliged to add material,” said Jane Friedman, a co-founder and chief executive of Open Road Media, which specializes in digitizing and marketing backlist books. “The information may have changed, but we are not journalists or academics. The book is the book.”

Still, she said, it could be a smart marketing opportunity. “I like new material because I like to make something fresh if I can. It would have been so interesting to bring up the controversy and start a debate.”

Some publishers and authors do make an attempt to stay current. In his biography on Joe Paterno, Joe Posnanski quickly added material dealing with a shocking new development — the sexual abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State University, where Mr. Paterno coached. Still, the book has been criticized for presenting a generally favorable portrayal of a figure whose reputation had since been greatly tarnished.

The fear at the time of the Kitty Genovese case was that urban areas were becoming much more dangerous, and her death amid unconcerned neighbors was a definitive tipping point. Mr. Rosenthal’s book played a significant role in building up the incident’s notoriety. The book, which went in and out of print over the decades, also kept the case alive for generations of students studying “Genovese Syndrome,” a description of why onlookers turn away from bad events and the diffusion of responsibility.

But over time the basic facts were called into question. As early as 1984 The Daily News published an article pointing to flaws in the reporting. In 2004 The Times did its own summation of the critical research, showing that since Ms. Genovese crawled around to the back of the building after she was stabbed the first time (her assailant fled and returned) very few people would have seen anything.

The article quoted among others Charles E. Skoller, the former Queens assistant district attorney who helped prosecute the case and who also has written a book on it. “I don’t think 38 people witnessed it,” said Mr. Skoller, who had retired by the time of the interview. “I don’t know where that came from, the 38. I didn’t count 38. We only found half a dozen that saw what was going on, that we could use.” There were other mitigating factors as well; it was a cold night, and most people had their windows closed.