Hi,

It's likely the Banks of the Ohio evolved from the murder ballads that are part of or related to the British ballads of the Berkshire Tragedy although there is only one stanza in common:

I asked her kindly to take a walk
A little piece away
That we might have a joyful talk
About our wedding day.

After this stanza the murder ballad is American and possibly based on an unknown local murder. The chorus is also unique and the ballad was probably adapted in the mid-late 1800s about a murder on the Pedee River which in the 1920s or earlier was changed to the Ohio River.

Yes, Banks of the Ohio has a copyright, in fact many. The first copyright with that title (Piedmont Log Rollers with Red Patterson, "Down on the Banks of the Ohio" 1928) could claim ownership since the copyright is after 1923. The song in different forms obviously predates 1923 so it is public domain (P.D).

Arrangements can be copyrighted but unless you have a hit record that is exactly like an earlier version -- you have nothing to worry about. The song is Pedee (P.D.)

Richie