Cap'n,
Carthy's 'Scarborough Fair' may have been his arrangement - from how I remember it, it varies very little from the collected text in The Singing Island. Personally I found his singing of it somewhat dull and unimaginative - I think I prefer the aspic - but there again, that's my opinion.
However, the real point is that if I were to take a modern, newly written song and 'arranged it' there would be no way I could claim it as my own, or even perform it publicly without paying royalties.
In 1968 Peggy Seeger wrote an anti-Vietnam War song called 'All Those Murdered People' which she based very loosely on 'Eleanor Rigby'. It was used in the annual show they put on, 'The Festival of Fools', but when she reproduced the song in the programme she had to withdraw the first printing and remove it as it infringed copyright.
If people can copyright 'arrangements' of traditional songs, why can't she use arrangements of popular ones?
As things stand at present there is nothing to prevent somebody from copyrighting the whole of the traditional repertoire by altering a couple of notes. I suggest you get hold of a copy of Dominic Behan's 'Ireland Sings' and see how many Irish traditional songs he copyrighted.
Mike.
I think the idea of an 'honest box' is a good one, though in the case of the UK there are so few real traditional singers around for it to benefit them. Perhaps any money arising from such an idea could be ploughed back into the music by funding desperately needed archives. The 'Bright Golden Store' project at The British Library could do with a shot in the arm.
In Ireland we are greatly supported by public money, with one of the finest national archives in Europe (if not the world). Here in Co. Clare we are poised to set up a local archive and have received a number of generous grants in order to do so.
Jim Carroll