Instead of seeking permission before making the CDs, the recording industry puts these songs on a pending list with songs with approval and payment pending. This practice started in the late 1980s, when Canadian copyright law changed. This list has grown exponentially since, now containing over 300000 songs - and for each of those songs, the industry has automatically admitted infringement (else they wouldn't be on the list).

. . .

And here comes that sweet, sweet taste of irony, a taste sprinkled in fairy dust and brought to you by pretty pixies riding on pink unicorns: the recording industry successfully argued in Canada that pirates have to pay 20000 USD per infringement, which means that the potential liability exceeds 60 billion USD. "These numbers may sound outrageous, yet they are based on the same rules that led the recording industry to claim a single file sharer is liable for millions in damages," says Michael Geist, Internet Law columnist at The Star.

Labels: economics, politics

# posted by Squach : 12:21 AM   |