Canadian Panel Says Song Downloads Are Legal

Last updated: May 14, 2021 11:21 am UTC

By Dennis Lloyd - Senior Editor

“The Canadian Copyright Board said Friday that downloading pirated music and burning it onto CDs was legal under Canadian law.

Uploading songs onto file-sharing networks remains taboo.

[…]

On Friday, the board said it believed the exemption applied to downloaded songs ‘as long as two conditions are met: The copy must be for the private use of the person making it, and it must be made onto an audio recording medium.’ And the board extended the exemption to some portable music players, such as Apple Computer Inc.‘s iPod.”

By Dennis Lloyd Senior Editor

I'm a passionate, long-time lover of Apple products, and was a civil draftsman and graphic designer before creating the iLounge web site. My prior projects include work for The Los Angeles Times' LATimes.com, and the company Creative Domain, where I developed websites for clients including Columbia Pictures, Disney, Fox Studios, Universal Pictures and Warner Brothers. As the Publisher of iLounge, I direct the site's community forums, photo galleries, iPod User Group, and general business affairs, which have grown under my watch to over sixteen million page views every month. I'm happily married with one daughter, one dog (Rocket the Wonderdog), one cat (Ferris), many iPods, iPhones, iPads, and two turntables.