I have just waded through this discussion, at length, amazed !
I am a law abiding folky, honest and happy to pay for all work I request. To the artists here please note that I have paid for CD's and their live performances which I selected AFTER having heard them somewhere initially free from charge (radio, friends', club background) or I would not have known to seek them out.
I have now come looking to remind myself of the tune to words which I copied down years ago from an LP, now extinct, which I purchased from the artist himself at a folk club performance. I would like to sing the song as an unpaid floor singer (though my name may suggest that this is a dubious benefit to the original artist). A download would be an enormous advantage. Surely research for the tune, in the same vein as for words, is no crime? If I must pay for a download, so be it, but I feel uncomfortable. How often do I have to pay for the same material? The ethics I leave to theologians.

Tunefully,

Flatnote.