If it had been possible to establish that Berlin had used Joplin's work--it would have been done, forget Joplin's illness, then, as now, he would have had to do no more than engage a law firm, there would have been too much money at stake not to pursue it, especially if one needed the money, say, to produce an opera--

At any rate, your passion on behalf of Joplin, while admirable, seems to get the better of the facts--