# Dolly Parton - The Copyright in Her Pocket In 1974 Elvis wanted to record I Will Always Love You, and Dolly wanted him to. The night before the session, Colonel Tom Parker called her: "we don't record anything with Elvis unless we have publishing on it, or at least half the publishing." She had a number one song on it already. "This is the most important copyright in my whole publishing company, and I can't do that." Then: "I said, 'I'm really sorry,' and I cried all night." Imagine holding the door shut against Elvis singing your song, out of something as unglamorous as an ownership table. The line of hers I keep turning over: "You have to take care of your own business. Nobody's gonna take care of you if you don't. Everybody's gonna use you if they can." And plainer still: "I'm upfront and I will tell you where to put it if I don't like where you got it." It is the whole lesson. The no cost her one night of crying. The yes would have cost her the song forever. She kept the copyright in her pocket for eighteen years until Whitney Houston picked it up, and Dolly told that ending better than anyone: "When Whitney's came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland." Own the asset, rent out the spotlight. It has been strange walking around this week. I got a bagel-dog at a local spot and heard Dolly playing from an apartment window, then a car, then somebody's office. Strange to imagine a world without her sharing it, walking around someplace. She took care of her own business, and the business is still out there taking care of the rest of us, pouring out of windows.