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GUEST,Rossey Origins: Westering Home (Hugh Roberton) (112* d) RE: Origins: Westering Home (Hugh Roberton) 18 Aug 20


I was fascinated to read about the 1960 court case. The Roberton Estate, publishers, Decca, Vera Lynn, the Queens's piper etc, got dragged into a bitter battle over a claim of infringement for the work 'Travelling Home', which Vera Lynn had recorded. The case involved Gaelic singing, piping and a non-musical judge (he had no musical knowledge)! Anyway, the outcome was that it was held that Travelling Home didn't infringe Westering Home's copyright, using an original lyric to what itself was based on earlier known Gaelic and Scottish tunes.   At some stage Hugh S. Roberton had effectively put himself down as arranger of the tune... Sometimes it is who writes down a work in fixed form, to create a copyright. He had died in 1952 so wasn't around to give evidence.   The lyric is still just in copyright, but it's so well known almost everybody has been putting it out as wholly traditional. In a mere 3 years time, under UK law.. this song with Roberton's words and the likes of his Mingulay Boat song will be fully legally traditional (70 years after death of the author).


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