Midchuck, thanks for the feedback.

I don't consider it infringement, or so-called "piracy" to copy from the public domain. The P.D. is meant to be copied, after all.

If a songwriter adapts a p.d. melody and then tries, in intention or in effect, to enforce copyright in the underlying melody (not just in the copyrightable adaptations, if any) -- that practice strikes me as ironic.

T.