"This is a major problem and in many ways it betrays the people wo gave us their songs
We went to the singers and told them that we wanted to record their songs because, if they were not recorded they would die, now, as far as I can see, we are in the same position as the collectors die off
We have always been happy to pass on what we have recorded on the understanding that no commercial use should be made of it - aprt of our agreement with the singers was thay they should get any money from the recordings
I was appalled to learn that an "arrangement" of John Reilly's 'Well Below the Valley" had been bought and copyrighted by a somewhat well-heeled musician who contact with traditional music is..... marginal
The finanial side of traditional music is raising more and more problems, especially as (ca and pigeons springs to mind) songs written for the commercial market are now being included by some as "folk songs"
A this happens, the less likely we are to gain access to many of the collections
This last few weeks has been a real eye-opener for me as to how many collections still remain closely guarded -
Walter Pardon put it in a nutshell for me when he related how an elderly local singer admonished him for "giving his songs away"
Walter told him, "they're not my songs, they're everybody's"
Jim Carroll