While I was off to PEI for a week this thread got embroidered something fierce! Re parodies - I think it is still in the UK the legal situation I ran foul of a few years ago, that you have to get permission from the original lyric maker to use a parody version. Included in this concept of 'parody' is any lyric whatever set to the tune. Then you have to pay all (yes 100%) of the royalties to the original writer. So the parodist gets no royalties if they set words to a copyright tune! None, zilch. Mind you, some people seem to collect, mostly I suspect because copyright holders don't enforce their draconian right. Re Lomax, he and his dad put 'New words and music' plus their own names on Leadbelly's songs, and collect to this day as co-writers, and they considered they were doing Leadbelly a favour. And Lomax was one of the good guys! In general I've found the families of dead writers far keener to get cash than their progenitors ever were.