Here's the page I thought that I posted above: Hey Joe Page

Here is that page's explanation of the Dino Valente copyright from one Pat Craig, who knew Dino and Billy in SF in the early sixties:

"The confusion about Dino's ownership of the song came from an act of generosity on Billy's part when Dino was in jail. Billy signed over the rights to the song to give Dino some collateral to get out of jail. Billy did write the song, but as you say, it is based on many old Delta Blues themes and is probably very much "rearranged" from several different versions of very similar songs. When we were kids in the early 60's we listened to Leadbelly, Dave Von Ronk, and any old blues stuff we could get our hands on. Hey Joe, if you look at it is almost a generic blues piece. Billy, however did put together the version we all know."

However, also on the page, it mentions that Dino copyrighted the song after Billy did,
and Billy engaged and attorney (his manager's dad) who took documentation to Third Story Music, who were the publishers, and who then began paying royalties to Billy.


One never quite knows what to believe in these situations--but it seems clear that Billy Roberts held a copyright that was earlier by far than any recordings, and no one seems to have found any evidence of an older folk song--