I have been having a think about this folks and I think I know what they are up to.
If an artist records a traditional peice of work it will be copyrighted as an "arrangement" you can see how they could construct a copyright infringement case based on ordinary folks singing traditional songs, you may think this is not true but take a look at the same thing happening n the art world where old masters are retouched and then copyrighted by those paying for the restoration ("the last supper" is a prime example), I may be way off the mark but this is what I suspect will occur at some stage as the Cartel get increasingly desperate and callous in their treatment of the consumer.