Classics become worthless.

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

Viewpoint Sharon Donegan

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.