I have met Ralph McTell on three or four occasions and told him once that I sang two or three of his songs at concerts from time to time. With a wry smirk he suggested that perhaps I should be paying him copyright fees... but he was fine when I explained I am simply an amateur performer and (at the time) was performing voluntarily at charity events and nursing homes etc and never get paid. Streets of London is a great song and I don't blame him for wanting to protect it.