M. Ted,
Actually, your point it is a major one or will soon be one. It is one I am currently wrestling with. I am not as concerned with legal issues as I am with moral issues. For example, if I record an event which is to some extent "public" (e.g., an open campground jam), what are the moral constraints to making that recording available to people who did not participate in the event? What are my obligations to the participants, if any?

I like your analogy about "rough" notes as opposed to an instruction manual prepared from such notes, but unfortunately it doesn't immediately clarify things for me. I am just as ethically uncertain about the notes as I am about the field recordings.

With a minidisc recorder, an entry-level pc with appropriate software, a CD burner, and a digital camera amateurs can create CDs that not too long ago would have been comparable to low-end professionally produced efforts. Such CDs are also a snap to reproduce. Changes all the rules.

By the way, I use and am willing to recommend SoundForge. I don't take advantage of most of its functionality and certain functions are way too slow (e.g., deleting and cutting), but I found it relatively easy to learn the functions I use. I use Adobe Illustrator for the labels.