Millions for a Song by André Vanasse Page A

that. That’s why he flew to London. He was hoping to find a taker for at least one of the songs he had registered to his name. I can guarantee you’re not the only band he’s ripped off. Tom Paradis is a copyright pirate. He knows the name of the game!”
    But so as not to discourage us too much, he quickly adds, “It won’t be easy to catch him red-handed, but I’m sure we’ll manage. Like any thief or forger, he’s left a trail, a clue. It’s impossible not to. Any criminal I’ve ever met feels an irrepressible urge to leave proof behind, a bit of rope that can be used to hang them. It’s as though they want to be punished in spite of themselves.”
    Finally, he lays out his plan of action. “Our problem is that we have to pull a Sherlock Holmes under less than ideal conditions. The events occurred over a year ago. Now, as everyone knows, memories fade. So you’re going to have to focus all your brain power on the period between October 20 th and 30 th . I’m convinced that sometime during that time frame, he was able to get hold of several of your songs, or at the very least ‘Live in the Dark.’ As soon as Tom had the lyrics and music in hand, he sent them to the Intellectual Property Office. If he wanted the law on his side, it was in his best interests not to wait a second more.”
    Jean-François has kept quiet, as usual, up to this point, but now he jumps out of his chair.
    Not only has he remembered that Nexxtep gave a concert for a group of neighborhood kids in my basement on Saturday, October 23 rd , but—and this is what has him all worked up—he also clearly remembers seeing a kid using a digital recorder like the ones journalists use for interviews.
    That had struck him at the time because his dad, who’s a journalist for La Presse , had just bought himself the same model. He found it strange to see a ten-year-old fooling around with such a high-end recorder. He put it down to the kid’s being a big fan. He figured the boy likes us so much he borrowed his dad’s recorder to tape us ...
    Great, we’ve got a lead! The only problem is that no one else seems to remember the kid. We were all so wrapped up in our first unofficial show that we didn’t notice a thing.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter,” Mr. Biron announces. “We know a child recorded your pre-concert. This can mean one of two things: either the child is innocent or Tom Paradis used him to do his dirty work. Either way, we can assume that Tom Paradis managed to get hold of that recorder and, thanks to the recording, reproduce the lyrics and music quite easily. Now what we need to know is: who is that boy? Any idea, Jean-François?”
    â€œNone, I’d never seen him before.”
    â€œIf that’s the case,” Mr. Biron continues, “we have to track down everyone who attended to see if we can identify him. His testimony will be crucial to our case. If we can get him on the witness stand admitting he gave his recording to Tom Paradis, we’ve got a shot at winning this thing.”
    He finishes his thought to make sure we understand how tricky our situation is, “Don’t get me wrong: We still won’t have won. One thing is very clear: it will be almost impossible to attack Tom Paradis’ evidence. We have to be careful not to lose sight of our prey and get caught up in thinking your rights will magically revert to you once we find the recording.”
    Finally, to buoy us up a bit, he explains his strategy, “However, I do think that, thanks to the testimony, we could force Tom Paradis to compromise himself, make a wrong move, and perhaps indirectly, confess to his guilt.”
    Satisfied with having taken a first step in our case, Mr. Biron concludes there’s more we can do. He puts us all to work. “We’re going to play a game in which you all try to remember back to that time frame. Any