I must confess that I'm still confused. I recall, for example, that Bert Jansch's version of "Blackwaterside" (mention of "Jack Orion" stirred a brain cell) with its distinctive guitar accompaniment was "borrowed" by – I can't remember – some American band. I don't think that Bert Jansch got any royalties for that.

Take for example Paul Brady's "Arthur MacBride". When you hear someone else doing it you don't need to be an ethnomusciologist to know where that accompaniment came from. And if someone were to record the song using Paul Brady's immediately recognizable arrangement would he get royalties or would there be a court case?

Has anyone ever got royalties for an arrangement of a traditional song? Has anyone ever gone to court and won such a case?

I'm talking legalities here, not morals or ethics, and I should point out that my interest is purely academic.