The group that collects royalties for songwriters is taking aim at an unusual source: dentists. It's not just dentists, but chiropractors and opticians -- any kind of office space that plays CDs.

"This was a money grab, what is the legitimacy of this kind of request of a license for this purpose," asks Dr. Jack Cotrell of the Canadian Dental Association.

The idea that music is in the public domain is a longstanding one, but it's also completely wrong, according the a musicians' rep.

"Not only is it the right thing to do, but it's also the lawful thing to do, to pick up a licence for what amounts to a mere few pennies a day," said Andre LeBel, CEO of The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).

SOCAN is the Canadian copyright collective for the public performance of musical works. The group administers the performing rights of composers, lyricists, songwriters and their publishers.

It says that every time a dentist or other health care practitioner plays music for its patients, he's stealing. The group wants the doctors to pay up for the right to play their songs.

Some will not like the stance SOCAN is taking. However, there are some who welcome the idea.

"Songwriters are hurting because of the perception it's the public domain ... it's about time this happened," said Johnathan Simkin who runs '604 Records' and is the lawyer for the rock group Nickelback.

It’s not just SOCAN taking aim at general music listeners. On Sept. 9, the U.S. recording industry filed more than 200 lawsuits against people who share copyrighted music files over the Internet.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on behalf of its members, which include Universal Music Group, BMG, EMI, Sony Music and Warner Music, filed the 261 lawsuits in federal courts around the U.S.

"We want people to stop engaging in the theft of music so that people can go on making it. This is a terrible thing where people are biting the hands that make the music and destroying the very music that they want to continue to be created," said RIAA president Cary Sherman.

U.S. copyright laws allow for damages of up to $150,000 US for each song offered illegally on a person's computer.

SOCAN doesn't want to press charges. It just hopes businesses will voluntarily come up with the cash -- so musicians can continue to make life a little more enjoyable.

With reports from CTV's Todd Battis and the Associated Press