Guest. "cough... ahem.. Lomax field recordings.. Moby... $$$$$$$$"

The Moby samplings are not comparable with the present situation. He sought permission for their use and, AFAIR, didn't unduly muck about with the bits he used. (If anyone wants to correct me on that then I'll stand corrected. However, while the end results were not my cup of tea, I do not recall his using any badly played banjo, or indeed anything badly played.)

Much more important, Lomax had signed royalty agreements with the original artists when he recorded them, and therefore Moby was obliged to pay royalties on the recordings he sampled.

I don't know how much was involved and I've no idea whether he would have acted as ethically if those agreements hadn't existed. What I do know is that those royalty payments were a welcome relief from the poverty which the descendants of those artists normally had to endure.

Richard. Rather than start another flame war, I'll explain the problem with MtheGM when next we meet.