I can confirm this. My dad was in an indie roots/folk band a couple/few decades back ("Les Frére Mallet"). He certainly never signed a record deal with the major labels, but still receives royalty cheques for their one album every once in a while. I have no idea if their accounting is accurate or fair, but they do pay people that are registered with SOCAN.

There are some valid reasons for the government to keep secrets -- see posts above. I think we can agree that if the government is to keep secrets, they have to be: 1) for the protection of individual citizens (e.g. tax returns); or 2) strictly time limited Of course, interpreting and applying #2 is difficult, but the point is that we all agree that no secrets can be kept forever.

I was not aware that the "right to life" was just a privilege, since life can be taken away.