Jim, you are talking about a different kind of business, familiar to all Mudcatters.

The one I was referring to is done more or less secretly by political entities who claim to represent an ethnicity. If these are in power, the "folk" songs and dances produced by them typically appear in school books or song books of official youth organizations.

Often the ethnicity is (re-)invented entirely. Other ethnicities, e.g. Russian or Jewish, already exist and have a rich and old folklore, but not meeting the particular ideological requirements. It is important that the contents appear as parts of the unquestionable ethnic identity, whence copyrighting would be counterproductive.

The trick is not new and has formerly been used in English language as well.