Snuffy's right - the legislation was aimed at professional performances, and is woefully inadequate in respect of people singing and playing for their own amusement (and not necessarily anyone else's).

I'm not sure how Sharyn's post fits into this thread Anyone can sing what they like if they're not recording and distributing it. If Sharyn's songs can't be changed, they aren't folk songs. And clearly they aren't, because she carefully crafted them with a view to casting them in stone. She's entitled to be aggrieved if people attribute versions to her that she didn't write (though most songwriters I know are happy to inspire different versions), but control freakery and folk music don't go together. This is the first time I've heard a songwriter say that there is only one definitive version of a song they've written, and I don't think it can be policed.

Most singer-songwriters of folk songs change their own songs, as they evolve and take a life of their own, so they don't mind if others carry on the songs in their own way.

Kitty