Ipod users may be paying a little more for their tunes in the near future, but this could be a good thing. In a ruling released by the Copyright Board of Canada, they have decided that Ipods and digital media devices could easily be held under the private copying levy that currently stands on the sale of cds and dvds, as well as other recording mediums.

This levy was set in place in 1996 to bring funding back to the artists who may lose money through private copying, which millions of Canadians do every day. The decision was in line with the Copyright board's previous rulings, which set a precedent for Canadians being legally allowed to not just copy files to their digital media devices, but essentially be in the clear when it came to downloading content online through peer to peer software, says Michael Geist, Canadian copyright law expert.

"Moreover, given the Board's view that the levy potentially applies to any device, including personal computers, it also provides further confirmation that peer-to-peer downloading is covered by the private copying levy," says Geist on his website.

The board conducted hearings last month and has concluded any device, including cellphones and computers, could be held liable under the levy, says the board.

"[The Recording Industry] expressed misgivings about the possibility that cellular phones and computers might end up being leviable. We see no inherent problem with this scenario," the decision read.

"A thing that is ordinarily used by individual consumers to make private copies should not be excluded from the private copying regime for the sole reason that it has other uses. Indeed, all media that are currently subject to the levy can be used for purposes other than private copying.

"To rule that digital recorders are not audio recording media does not serve the purpose of the Act or that of Part VIII [the private copying provisions]. It instantly makes the conduct of millions of Canadians illegal, and even possibly criminal."