I think composers should be compensated for their work and certainly no group like the girl scouts that charges for membership or for activities should be exempt from paying them.

On the other hand, I think it is unfair to be charged for performing or recording music when you are not doing that. If you want to start a music preservation society that only sang public domain material, would you have difficulty in avoiding ASCAP fees? I am not sure. Don't Canadians have to pay a music tax on blank cassettes even if they use them to record a school lecture? I do not think the difficulty of charging for performances justifies charging when there are no performances.

Maybe someone should purchase "Puff" outright and donate it to the public domain.