CC is distinct from public domain in that unlike the latter it doesn't
surrender the commons as terra nullius for commercial appropriation. The
folk scene was vulnerable to this because its presumed commons was
undefended.
There's an interesting question as to whether the black musicians white
folkies swiped things from in the 60s had the same notion of the commons
as the folkies, or whether it was just that they lacked the legal
representation to assert their rights to attribution, recognition,
payback etc.; the same question arises with other sources, the rural and
Romany singers from whom much of the material was collected. What is
held in common among a particular group may not necessarily be offered
gratis to outsiders. Martin Carthy for example clearly recognises and
acknowledges a debt to the Romany, both collectively and individually.
The commons is not a spontaneous cornucopia but a gift economy;
participants are obliged to see to it that what comes around, goes around.
Dominic
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