I have been a folksong leader and performer for about 55 years and, although I am partial to traditional songs, and I champion then in my reviews, I believe that a "folk song" is a song that people sing, rather than just listen to. Of course, tradition takes time. Is there anything sillier than an event that is advertised as The First Annual whatever?
But, even though Dr. Kenneth Goldstien was a friend, and my daughter's godfather, his assertion that a folksong's author must be anon and altered by, what he called "folk process", was, and is nosensical. Even he would have admitted that Silent Night, Happy Birthday and the Star Spangled Banner are traditional and ritual folksongs. The same can be said for Guthrey's "This Land is Your Land", Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" and Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" A folksong outlives its creator and its popularity. I suspect that "Puff, The Magic Dragon" will achieve folk status. Children's songs and Christmas carols tend to have a longer shelf life.