To copy or not to copy

As Anonymous-L brought up in her comment to a previous post, another careyoke question I ponder is whether or not I am allowed to repeat a song that someone else has done before. In fact, early on in my careyoke career, Ms. L and I did sing "Total eclipse" all by ourselves one night (without group permission), and it just felt so wrong and dirty to me. Where was Ang? I thought I was just pretending to be something I wasn't. We didn't show the due respect for the experience of the song. Of course, I would never venture to sing "Total" by my lonesome - or without some sort of group consent - again. But that's a super special song, as readers of Jeremy's blog are well aware. But what about other songs that are less "classic"? I mean of course I can't sing "I've Never Been to Me." But are other songs that have been performed up for grabs? I guess I feel if someone has only done the song once I could probably do it myself some time. But still, I am actually a little icked by the whole copying thing. Unless...unless I, or someone, were to do the song as an homage to another performer. In fact, I've been wanting to do an homage to Rhymes-with-Scrabble for quite some time now and try my hand at one of her signature songs. I think I'd choose "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves," b/c there's no way I could handle "Ode to Billie Joe" or the yodeling-ish-ness in "Desert Rose." At least maybe if one does another's song they could give the original person props for discovering such a good one. So, I say not to copy, with a few caveats. What do you think?

BTW, bridal blog insider: it's exactly ONE YEAR until my wedding...Only 365 days left to plan! Happy pre-anniversary, Joshie!