I'm still baffled. As a retailer who tries to be both honest and ethical, Am I to he held personally responsible for the behaviour of my supplierss? Or is it considered to be good thing that this music should be unavailable to the public?
I can only assume that what I buy for resale is the legal property of the publishers I purchase from, whether that publisher is Topic, or Smithsonian Folkways or Dave Bulmer or Peter Kennedy. I frankly have no idea of how to properly recompense source singers (the aformentioned Kingston Trio Tom Dooley owes at least as much to the Folksay Trio as it does to Frank Proffitt, who wasn't the first to record it in any case).
In any case, the amounts of money involved would likely be less than the cost of a pint or so at a festival pub.