Is the "crackdown" an effort to collect royalties? If so, you shouldn't have a problem with any songs for which no one has a valid claim. I wouldn't think you'd get any static until you are heard performiong a song that indeed belongs to somebody.

You would, of course, have to do research on every individual number in your repertoire -- and you might learn that many songs that a reasonable person would expect to be in the public domain *are* claimed by various persons, including rich and famous individuals who shouldn't really need your money (e.g., Bob Dylan). In most of these cases, the copyright is on the "arrangement," not the words and music per se, but it may be difficult to substantiate your claim that your arrangement is indeed original and not copped from a well-known recording.

Even though it might be difficult or impossible to *prove* that you are in violation, I can see that you might have problems with nervous bar owners who want to avoid any possibility of dealing with a challenge to your right to perform your repertoire. Good luck!

As a friend and fan of working musicians, I suppose I should be glad that someone is enforcing copyright/royalty payment to deserving songwriters who have so often been overlooked.

On the other hand, I am also sympathetic to players in your position, and as a fan/listener, I really hope this is *not* a coming trend -- I can hardly imagine my live-music listening being limited to all-"originals" sets. There are plenty of groups and individuals who can play and sing very nicely, but who cannot regularly compose memorable songs. There are plenty of great songs out there that should be regularly performed and occasionally reinterpreted; that's the whole point of having a "tradition"!