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OTTAWA — A Ottawa record store owner grudgingly pleaded guilty to a single charge under the Canadian Copyright Act, then took a reluctant pause before admitting to possessing 100 illegal CDs discovered in an RCMP raid earlier this year.“I can’t afford to fight it. It’s such a shame,” David Nolan said outside the courtroom, adding he felt “ripped off.”RCMP raided Nolan’s Wellington Street record shop — Legend Records — in April 2009 after an undercover agent bought CDs in January. Agents from the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) subsequently said the CDs violated Canadian copyright law.RCMP seized about 500 CDs in the April raid.About 200 were returned to Nolan, leaving 294 CDs that were deemed to be in contravention of Canadian copyright law.Many of these CDs were not illegal at all, Nolan’s lawyer Mark Lazarovitz said, including albums by local group The Townsmen that Nolan had helped finance.The final figure of 100 illegal CDs was a somewhat arbitrary figure acceptable to Lazarovitz and Crown attorney Rob Zsigo.Nolan said he often tracks down rare CDs that are unavailable in North America to satisfy his customers. Often the original copyright holders are dead, he said.Lazarovitz said Nolan’s collection of 500,000 to a million recordings — which also includes vinyl — is “99.9 per cent legitimate” and that it makes little sense to go after a man who is essentially supporting the recording industry when illegally downloaded music is rampant.The joint agreement between the defence and the Crown gives Nolan three months to make a $1,000 donation to the charity of his choice. He is to appear in court again on April 1.
