You know, I’ve been pretty honest about copying CDs. I’ve even bought some that Angela already owned, just so we could both listen to them at work at the same time. Despite the repeated idiocy of groups like the RIAA, I always figured that copying music is a lot like software piracy, so on principle I tried to avoid it. It turns out I’m an idiot, and this aricle over at Kuro5hin proves it. The Canadian government has been charging a levy on all recordable media (audio tapes, CD-Rs, etc) specifically because of piracy. I knew about this, but I thought that further piracy would only encourage more taxes. It turns out that the law that created the levy also gives me the right to copy music for my own use. The head of the Canadian Copyright Board calls it a “quid pro quo”. Why don’t they advertise this at HMV? There are a few problems here. 1) I have to pay Celine Dion if I decide to back up my hard drive to CD-R. 2) The money is given out based on airplay and sales, which means copying the music of small bands I like still costs them money and lines the pockets of Celine Dion. 3) Nothing against Celine Dion (besides the obvious), but all the money goes to the Canadian music industry. If I copy the work of an American band, why does Celine Dion get the money? 4) Speaking of Celine Dion, isn’t her latest CD copy protected specifically to prevent me from exercising my legal (and paid for) right to copy her music for private use? How’s that legal? So now, as I sit listening to Propagandhi, I’m at a loss as to what to do. My gut instinct was to stop buying CDs ever again, but that hurts the bands I love far more than it hurts Celine Dion. It’s quite possible that I’ve misunderstood something, but I think the essence is correct – Celine Dion is making money no matter what I do. Bah. I have other (non-web) articles to write tonight.