Dick Greenhaus,

I tried.

I'll try again.

In the southern mountains of the United States it is NOT unusual for traditional sources singers and/or their heirs and assigns to feel that they should benefit if money is made from the material collected from them.

You might be surprised at the bitter responses that names like Lomax, Niles, and Peer evoke even today in some places.

IMHO prima facie they have a valid point.

IMHO the question to be addressed is NOT "Why should they get anything?" but rather "Why shouldn't they get anything."

To dismiss their claims as sour grapes is simply to refuse to address the issue that this thread was supposed to address.

To insist that they should've read the fine print is simply a "blame the victim" approach to the problem.

Russ (Permanent GUEST self-appointed spokesman for the voiceless)