It is the Joplin estate that holds the power. The Joplin estate however are just lawyers. The Joplin relative that was named as the Joplin estate was some old lady that knew nothing of what was going on and did not herself listen to anything by Scott Joplin. Any profits of the CD just go to this little cabal of lawyers.

The original score was published before the 20s. Joplin himself paid to have it published and he died in 1917. Had he not done so, the score probably would have been lost by the 1920s. By the 20s, you understand, Joplin was already forgotten. Only "Maple Leaf Rag" was remembered because it was one of the very few rags redone as a jass song.

I don't claim all the details I gave were right but I do know that no other label can release a version of Treemonisha--I know that. And I know that this has been challenged in the courts a number of times but it has never been successfully overthrown. I'll check with my sources, but I'm sure I have that much correct.