Twenty years ago, Ron Kavana did a gig at our folk club. John Maughan, who ran the club, had been singing Ron's song "Reconciliation" for several years, and he asked Ron if it was OK for him to sing it (they ended up doing a duet). Ron said that he was delighted that anyone should want to sing his song, as a song only has a life when it's sung. Great attitude, not one shared by everyone in folk music. Of course, no-one should even begin to think of making money out of someone else's stuff without paying their dues. The only moral thing to do is to try your damnedest to track down who, if they exist, should be paid royalties. It would be nice to think that we folkies would always have the natural instinct to do that to the best of our ability. Dammit, Shaw, you and your bloody Utopian ideals...