Normally, one assumes that if you operate your business exclusively within the confines
of a single country, you need concern yourself with only the laws of that particular country. Doing business on the Internet challenges this assumption as illustrated by the recently forced hiatus of
classical music site International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP).
IMSLP
is a free online library which offers its visitors copies of musical scores that
are in the public domain. The site’s
owner, its server and its operations are based in Canada so it relied on Canadian law
when determining which musical scores were in the public domain and could be
permissibly offered through the site.