I have put together cds with various people...i always prefer non-copyrighted songs. Sometimes people have already recorded the song and I have given up asking certain ones..they are afraid I will make too much money off their songs. I usually have 20 songs on a cd and sell for $10. I can assure everyone I am not making too much money..I try to break even and make enough for the next one.

Anyway, I pay enough copyrights to cover telling some people it is ok to make copies, and most songs are either traditional or people on cd have written them and given permission. But when I was in Ireland..and you can't ship to Ireland for a reasonable price..I wanted to tell MY RELATIVES they could make a few copies. I felt stymied over this because I knew that a couple of people on the cd were adamant over this issue. I just will not put them on future cds so that I can tell people, such as my relatives with my potato famine cd, that they can copy stuff. that a fisherman/woman at fisher poets can copy stuff for his friends after some disaster in Alaska. I respect what people tell me about their preferences but from now on I will only work with people who are free and easy about this..that any cds I produce people will be able to tell their friends it is ok to make a copy or two. This would not work for many people but then they won't be on the cds and can make their own with their own rules.

And to repeat. I will not ever put a canadian song on the cd without copyright proof in hand. It is a terrible ordeal working your way through their strangled mess. I got in trouble with someone over let me fish off cape st. mary's..after I had talked with a family member, after I had paid royalties. I had to destroy a set of just run off cds right before fisher poets. I have learned my lesson about Canadian copyrights...Unless you know the person who wrote it, or experts say it is traditional, don't think you can just pay an agency and be fine. It does not work that way and I don't have the stamina or desire to do that again.