Fascinating story of karma-kickback – Read the entire piece at the site of a lawyer involved with the process:
Michael Geist – Canadian Recording Industry Faces $6 Billion Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Monday December 07, 2009

The CRIA members were hit with the lawsuit [PDF] in October 2008, after artists decided to turn to the courts following decades of frustration with the rampant infringement (I am adviser to the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, which is co-counsel, but have had no involvement in the case). The claims arise from a longstanding practice of the recording industry in Canada, described in the lawsuit as “exploit now, pay later if at all.”  It involves the use of works that are often included in compilation CDs (ie. the top dance tracks of 2009) or live recordings. The record labels create, press, distribute, and sell the CDs, but do not obtain the necessary copyright licences.

Instead, the names of the songs on the CDs are placed on a “pending list”, …

Over the years, the size of the pending list has grown dramatically, now containing over 300,000 songs. From Beyonce to Bruce Springsteen…

It is difficult to understand why the industry has been so reluctant to pay its bills.  …

The more likely reason is that the record labels have had little motivation to pay up.  As the balance has grown to over $50 million…

Having engaged in widespread copyright infringement for over 20 years, the CRIA members now face the prospect of far greater liability…

After years of claiming Canadian consumers disrespect copyright, the irony of having the recording industry face a massive lawsuit will not be lost on anyone…