Mick:

The protocol may have changed in recent years, but we always used the Harry Fox Agency as a clearing house/go-between/agent. When we recorded material which I suspected was not in Public Domain, I checked with ASCAP and BMI (or checked their sites) to see if I could find author/publisher information. Then I listed ALL the non-PD songs on the album on which we were working, and included the money for the royalties (back then it was four cents per song per record/tape/cd). For a run of 1000 cds, the cost per song was $40. Since most of the non-PD songs we recorded were written by friends of ours, we were happy to pay. It ain't no big thing.

As I said, the procedure may have changed since we cut our last album 6 or 7 years ago, but you can find out easily at the BMI, ASCAP, or Harry Fox sites on the 'net. For me, the peace of mind was worth the cost and the effort.