Apple is being sued for failing to pay royalties in France.

Under a French law passed two years ago, hard disk players are subject to a levy that goes to compensate royalty holders. Sacem, the Society of Music Creators, Composers and Publishers, says Apple has failed to comply, and will sue for back fees. Canada recently introduced a similar levy on fixed-disk portable music players to help compensate artists.

If I am remembering correctly, the US has something sort of similar in that sales of blank CDs and tapes contribute some percentage to a fund to compensate musicians for potential piracy losses.