CBC Radio’s The Sunday Magazine is a lively, wide-ranging mix of topical long-form conversations, engaging ideas and more. Each week, host Piya Chattopadhyay takes time for deep exploration, but also makes space for surprise, delight and fun.
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Was a hit Canadian song from the 1970s really stolen?
34:17
Canada's first-ever music copyright case took place in Ontario's highest court just over 40 years ago. It saw a little-known lounge musician named Ivan Gondos face off against established hit-maker Hagood Hardy. The ruling helped to define current copyright law, however the fascinating story behind the case has largely been forgotten – but not by The Sunday Magazine producer Pete Mitton. He went looking for the truth and unearthed a tale involving swanky piano lounges, the complainant testifying from his deathbed, a "smoking gun" in the form of a Xeroxed piece of sheet music, and an ubiquitous tea commercial.