Declan McCullagh speaks with University of Ottawa Law professor Michael Geist about Canadian copyright law applied to technology: Cyberpiracy north of the border.
Q: Can Canadians legally download copyrighted music from peer-to-peer networks?
A: The short answer is: Nobody knows for sure. But the issue is far murkier than in other jurisdictions like the United States. The key provision in Canada’s copyright legislation is a private copyright exemption that lets Canadians make private copies for noncommercial use. The way we justify the exemption is by way of a levy that applies to blank media such as blank CDs and blank audio cassettes.
