"...the truly interesting question is embodied in this thread, i.e. why are some people so desparate to occupy/colonise the Folk Music genre?"

No, the truly interesting question is why people continually throw a definition at others in the manner of a fait accomplis but can't provide a single example of transmission that fits the criteria in the half century since it was invented. Surely given the thousands of historic songs that fit the criterion, a few dozen will have entered the canon? A handful? One?