Classics become worthless

Sharon Donegan, the widow of Lonnie, calls on the politicians to think again and extend UK copyright beyond the current 50 years

From Music Week, 05.05.07

I remember Ronnie Wood saying, "There we were singing `You're a pink toothbrush, I'm a blue toothbrush' and then suddenly we're jumping up and down to Rock Island Line." That was Lonnie Donegan's sound. His skiffle guitar changed everything. It was a sound that no one forgot and it inspired thousands of youngsters to take up the guitar, including John Lennon and Pete Townshend.

Rock Island Line was a 1930s song, but Lonnie's recording was quite unlike the blues original. It was an up-tempo version, which just steamed along. I bet if you asked most people whose song it was, they would say Lonnie or Johnny Cash or one of the other singers who recorded it. It was their recording which brought the song to life and that's what people remember.

Then there was Cumberland Gap. No one even knows who wrote that, but Lonnie was associated with that song from the moment he recorded it, 50 years ago.

At the end of this year, Cumberland Gap goes out of copyright and the royalty stream dries up. Rock Island Line, released in 1956, went out of copyright at the end of last year, but only for the performers and the record company. The songwriter's family and his publisher still get royalties. We get nothing.

Apparently, one minister has suggested that performers should sell T- shirts instead. I sometimes think they just don't understand what it's like to be a performer.

All most people saw was the smile on Lonnie's face when he performed. They just assumed he was always like that. They didn't see the blood, sweat and tears, the hours on the road, getting into a van at the end of a gig and driving through the night to the next date, with no time to eat. I remember Lonnie saying, "A truck driver wouldn't put up with these **** hours." It's true.

What seems most unfair about all this is that someone like Lonnie works all his life and then there's nothing at the end of it, not even a pension. His recordings of Rock Island Line and Cumberland Gap are effectively worthless once the copyright term ends. It's not even as though they made us rich. People say I must be a millionaire, but, no. The royalties were just enough to get by. Even then, Lonnie toured until the very end. Sadly, he passed away aged 71 while preparing for a concert.

Our 23-year old son Pete wants to follow in his father's footsteps - he's about the only person who can sing all the words in Cumberland Gap. The other day he said to me, "Should I go to America?" It's such hard work making it as a musician here and we just make it harder with the shorter copyright term.

PPL is releasing a CD called the Copyright Gap, a reference to Cumberland Gap going out of copyright. They're only pressing a limited edition for MPs. I just hope the politicians listen to all the tracks on that CD and then give us the same copyright term as the songwriters and photographers. Hard-working people like Lonnie, who gave so many so much fun, deserve at least this.

- Ends -

Sharon Donegan is the widow of Lonnie Donegan, whose first hit Rock Island Line went out of copyright in January under the 50-year copyright rule for sound recordings.

Reprinted by kind permission of Music Week