Mick, I know it's a pain in the behind, but if you are selling a CD that has some songs that are not traditional, or if the arrangements are not entirely your own (most of us use at least parts of other peoples' arrangements, the ones we learned the songs from and learned to like them from), then you are responsible for royalties. It shouldn't cost much. You should check out some of the recent threads (if you can stand the craziness; you'll see what I mean) regarding copyright and intellectual property. If it's only a few songs, the easiest thing would be to write to the authors and ask permission - they usually give it in a case like yours. But make sure before you expose yourself to liability. If you're the adventurous type, the odds are probably good that no one will ever bother you about it, even if you do not check, but don't take that as advice, because if the authors are protected by one of the big licensing agencies, such as BMI or ASCAP, they will have no mercy if you are found out. Besides, if you get to be famous, your much-sought-after first CD will attract a lot of attention. So check it out first is my advice. On the recent thread entitled "Intellectual Property" (which got pretty nasty), someone gave a source for expert copyright information. Just enter "intellectual property" in the thread search filter at the top of the discussion page.

Good Luck, Chet W.