May I be permitted my humble penn'orth?

There's a fine line between Respect and Precious, and it can be so hard to get it right sometimes.

Sure, if the writer of a song is present, it's only fair to refrain from singing it then and there or check with the writer first on the night.

But that aside, I've always felt that if a song's a good song then it should be sung, by whoever. And some singers will inevitably do a better job than others - whether or not they make the song their own or bring a radically different perspective to it. There are some great songs where the "light-bulb" moment ("oh THAT's what it's all about!) has only come after hearing many renditions, some of which may have been by "owners" who clearly didn't "get" it...

There are indeed countless songs in the total potential repertoire, but there will be occasions when only be a small proportion of those will suit the moment!

I don't get upset if someone else gets up and sings a song I love to sing or am known for singing (I can remember one festival singaround where that happened for five consecutive songs, which fast narrowed my choice thereafter!)... but on the other hand it does grate if someone takes up a song that I've introduced and then been singing out for a while, and proceeds to claim "ownership" to the extent that I'm effectively barred from singing it myself again.

A good song should be able to take more than one "owner", I believe.
I prefer to use the word "carrier" in that context.