I brought down a box from my loft, and found it held my music stash, including a book of songs by the Seekers. That included a setting of South Australia by them as a group. At the top it said "Traditional, arranged by the Seekers". At the bottom it had the usual copyright message, with certain additions. It forbade singing the words to a different tune (done that, I'm sure I wasn't singing it as written, having picked it up off their CD), and also, making a parody.

Up to that point, the thought hadn't entered my head, though parodies are what I do. Now, I can't get away from "Twas in Sarf Lunnon I was born, round the great Sarf Circ'lar"

Can they forbid parodying a traditional set of words? To a variant of the tune? Surely if it's traditional, it is only their set of words to their tune version that they can copyright?

Penny