Depends how much ‘arranging’ you do but (with enough) of course they are!
Sonny Rollins?
I’d like to know the mechanics of it, then.
The arranger has no rights to the original tune or lyrics. If you change it enough that it’s totally new lyrics or melody I’m not sure that’s really an arrangement.
Blue Highway’s cover of Johnny Cash’s cover of Sting’s “I Hung My Head” is pretty different (especially in meter). If I cover it I wonder who I’d have to pay… Hm… Off to Harry Fox.
I need to find me a copyright lawyer to ask these kind of questions. These are things that keep me up at night.
This was a direct quote from Denny – if you have questions you’ll have to take it up with him 
For a typical case (not remotely extreme!) with tune intact, take my arrangement of An Cluinn Thu Mi Mo Nighean Donn. While it was ultimately just knocked up as a four-track project for a Music Technology student of mine to record, it’s still quite carefully shaped and copying my exact piano, keyboard and bass parts would undoubtedly be copying my work whereas working independently to create similar textures wouldn’t. Now imagine I’d shaped the structure some more by adding an intro, coda and/or break with new material and perhaps a full countermelody as well, there’d be yet more of mine there without touching lyrics (no singing here!) or melody. And copying all of that unacknowledged (let alone passing it off as your own) would quite simply be wrong!
I don’t disagree that it’s wrong. My question is whether it’s legal.
See my link above to the Jonathan Coulton vs “Glee” debacle. The show ripped off Jonathan Coulton’s folk cover of “Baby Got Back”. I mean completely ripped it off. Even included his slight lyric change (instead of “Mix-a-lot’s in trouble” Coulton sang “Jonny C’s in trouble” … the show did Coulton’s lyric verbatim, didn’t even bother to change the name to the character who was singing).
Coulton found out he had no legal recourse as long as the show didn’t sample any of his audio. Which is pretty scary. Not even his famous, rich, mustacioed friend John Hodgman could do anything.
The show would definitely have to pay Sir Mix-a-lot for the broadcast rights, though.
I wonder if an arrangement of a traditional tune has more rights than a cover of a modern song? Maybe… a sticky wicket, that. Does your arrangement inherit the public domain status of the traditional tune it’s based on?
Anyway, I’ve gone on long enough about copyright in this thread. Sorry.
P.S., I really like your An Cluinn arrangement. I will make it a point not to steal it.
Just followed that up, listened to both ‘covers’ + the ‘original’ and have to say that the Glee/Fox/US legal (?) position simply disgusts me. So quoting two comments that jumped out at me from amongst the many (and I haven’t read them all!) on Coulton’s blog…
No, of course not! Original work is original work, no matter what the starting point (though the end point clearly matters and you’re not going to claim an original arrangement for, say, a single statement of Mary Had A Little Lamb on piano with tonic and dominant seventh vamping), and what’s happening to Coulton here (granted that he’s set neither original nor public domain poetry) looks like shocking interpretation/exploitation of a US legal position that (from what I’ve just read) seems pretty fuzzy about the concept.
P.S., I really like your An Cluinn arrangement. I will make it a point not to steal it. >
My apologies, BTW, Peter. I was sitting here trying to hash out US legal code and it never occurred to me that you were in the UK with, of course, a different set of laws. Sorry.
And, I agree that “Glee” is a pretty shady operation.
Also, looking at the wikipedia article on Public Domain, I came across this amusing piece of art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.H.O.O.Q.
It has a punny title which I’ll let you folks read about yourselves.
By the way –
Coming Soon..
Trad & More
a new phpBB forum for musical collaborations and other creative ventures
There we will discuss which tunes we’d like for the Denny Tribute CD, how to use a base track to record your own track, copyright issues, and many other fascinating topics.
In separate threads. So it’s less confusing 
Ahh .. is he gone then?
The great man orbits - he goes out and then draws close with all the stories of his wide passing.
And he tells us this great place .. this wide place all filled with light and joy.
Ahh .. are you gone then?
Not gone.
Only leading.
lovely…
The ongoing question of what kind of music did Denny like…
I’ve been doing a walk down memory lane, going through old threads. At one point a couple of years ago, my son had started playing the bass. I was asking for suggestions for tunes he could tackle. Denny mentioned Victor Wooten, Edgar Meyer, and Weather Report
Meanwhile…
I would like to submit to the playlist “the Luna’s Jig”. I don’t think there will be any copyright issues, since I’m writing it myself.
I do remember the bass thread. Wooten, Meyer and Pastorius were bass players I introduced to my bassist son. Actually he decided to take up the bass after we met Victor Wooten when he was 12. The jazz fusions they have been involved in hit me where I live. I’ll think about that space a bit and get back to you. Might need to write something.
If I were to recommend a piece along those lines, the first thing that comes to mind is “A Remark You Made” written by Joe Zawinul, a Weather Report classic. But it is of course still under Copyright I’m sure.
Luna’s Jig, cool!
Feadoggie
I really like the idea of original compositions. The more the merrier! If this CD turns out to be a 2-disker, I don’t think that’s a problem. The “Wooden Flute Obsession” compilations that Kevin Krell put together were 2-diskers, so there’s precedent.
The more I ponder “what kind of music did Denny like”, the more I think it might be easier to answer the opposite question (“what kind of music didn’t he like”) 
I wanted to let you know that I’m plugging away at the new phpBB (where we can keep track of the tune list). I’m trying to learn the machinery of it myself so it’s taking longer than it really should 
…but it’s a growth experience 
Collecting music. Among the trad tunes we have gathered are about half a dozen relating to horses! I would like to suggest another topic as well.
Denny had posted several versions of this view of the Cascade mountains. I was never sure if this is what he saw when he looked out his window or if he actually had to go hiking to see it. One way or the other, judging by the number of pictures, I think that the mountains meant a lot to him! There must be a lot of tunes about mountains.
I’m delurking after a few years to mention I had the pleasure of meeting Denny and Adena (and their horses) at their farm several years back. That photo is indeed the view from their property. Denny said he enjoyed hiking in those mountains, too.
This was taken off of his deck at his house
Sorry to clog this CD thread with non-CD stuff, but folks might like to see these.
I thought that mountain photo looked even more familiar than it should. It’s a crop out of a photo I took on our visit to Denny’s farm in 2008.
Here’s the original:
And here’s the man himself:
This is my favorite photo from that day, which I find particularly moving now:
Thanks for sharing! I don’t think I’d seen that last one; what a great picture! I miss ya, big guy.
I was just thinking about mountain-themed tunes for Denny this morning and lo and behold, here you are talking about one and the same! That river-of-consciousness thing just keeps a’flowin’…
A few Irish trad titles off the top of my head if anyone’s looking. I’m sure I’m forgetting some very well-known ones, but it’s a start.
Air/Song
Sliabh na mBan
The Trip We Took Over the Mountain
Hornpipe
The Mountain Ranger
Slip Jigs
The Arra Mountains
The Kid on the Mountain
Jigs
The Mist-Covered Mountain
Sliabh Russell
Mountain Madness (?)
The Slopes of Sliabh Luachra
Reels
The Mountain Road
The Mountain Top
The Green Mountain
The Mourne Mountains (might be a jig by this name, too?)
The Buck from the Mountain
Coalte Mountain (sp?)
The Galtee Mountains (aka “Galtee Rangers”)
Maghera Mountain
And of course, any Sliabh Luachra polkas are fair game, right?!
Looks like a great project yall have going here! I like it a lot. I’d help out a bit, but having only played a bit over a year, I don’t feel I’m the best applicant. Anyway, I really like the idea of the Kid on the Mountain and the Last Pint. A few ideas just to throw out on the table, have you considered O’ Raghailligh’s Grave (Dervish) or January Snows (Lunasa) for slow airs? To me, they portray a sort of melancholy feel, and can be “absolute tear-jerkers.” Autumn Child and the Miller of Droghan are good as well I think. Oh! Almost forgot this lovely set! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdn-v7w7xJs