Bill C-32

• Bill C-32 changed the original Copyright Act to state that a person making a “personal use” copy of a sound recording did not violate existing copyright law. The amendment did not explicitly cover whether such a copy could be made available on a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network.
  
  

Copyright Board of Canada

• The government created the Copyright Board of Canada to deal with related issues such as determining how much someone should pay to use a copyrighted work. They clarified after the passing of Bill C-32 that private copying was legal no matter where the copied file originated from.
  
  

Audio Recording Mediums

• Canadians may copy audio files onto “audio recording mediums.” To balance out any allegedly lost income for the record labels and bands that copyright their music, a levy on all recordable media is collected and dispersed among the copyright holders.
  
  

Fair Dealing

• In Canadian copyright law, fair dealing describes the use of any copyrighted material (including music) that is permitted outside of personal use for specific purposes that in some way serve the community. Fair dealing standards in Canada allow such use in moderation for the purposes of criticism and comment, news reporting and education.
  
  

BMG Lawsuit

• Controversy about the right to distribute copyrighted music began with a case involving the uses of audio files on P2P networks, with many believing uploading files into shared folders accessible by others constituted distribution. BMG Canada tried to sue file sharers but courts dismissed the case, finding not enough evidence to force the Internet Service Providers to reveal the users' identities. The case was appealed, and the judge agreed that while the P2P network users should not be prosecuted, the issue of distribution on P2Ps must be decided in a future court decision.