SOCAN the Canadian RIAA

[Perndog]

Copyright laws have actually been pretty clear on this for quite a while a while; there are special provisions for Muzak (music in offices, etc.), but it still requires a license. If folks have a problem, instead of bitching at the businessmen for trying to get their legal dues, they should try to get the laws changed.

Oh, and Chimp, I'm pretty sure "private use" means private use of the owner of the copy, not of anyone they feel like lending it to. Whoever has got the original has the right to make and listen to the copies. And that law is more or less the same everywhere; once you own a copyrighted work you can do almost anything with it (without a license) that doesn't include public performance, distribution, or profit.