"What is your problem with a songwriter copyrighting his/her own work? "
None whatever, but while it is owned it will never be a folk song

"You seem to keep missing that point."
No Dave - you are - this is the point
"been absorbed into the unwritten living tradition of a community."

The 45 definition (which I never discuss or use) talk about songs being adapted and changed and taken on by communities as their own - that can never happen to copyrighted songs - they always belong to someone other than 'the folk'
It is the changes and adaptations that that create folk songs, not repetition
Much more to it than that, of course

As long as you keep putting forward 180 cli=uns as a healthy scene, we have no grounds for discussion
A scene dominated by Festivals and paid singers is the antithesis of a healthy scene
Howard raised an important question on the toxic thread concerning how you follow up the idea that 'anybody can sing' (which I heartily agree with) by not upsetting audiences that come to hear a reasonable level of singing
Quite honestly, I think it far more fruitful to follow that uo rhater than go around in these ever-decreasing circles and ending up disappearing upour own jaxies
Jim