StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I had a thought a few minutes ago as I was listening to Crime and Punishment from an Y's V SPC collection, and also got a spark from my other recent thread.

For those who don't know, in emulation, it's oftentimes possible to rip audio files from a ROM in various formats, which can then be played with stand-alone programs or through plug-ins made for host programs. They come in a variety of formats and ripping methods, depending on the system in question: NES music is ripped to a single block .nsf file, which contains each sound effect and song used in the game and is cycled through like a playlist, SNES music has each track ripped in the form of an SPC, Playstation music ripped in .psf and .minipsf, which contain the song notation and gets sound data (I think) from a single massive library file, and so on.

The major discernable difference between the two formats would be the quality and design of the tracks they contain. In the case of an OST, the audio is much more "dynamic," as opposed to a rip being "static": the OST audio (probably) uses live instruments when applicable, and is thus much more authentic, whereas game rips rely upon an audio library from which samples are drawn, thus giving it an "artificial" taste of sorts. Depending upon the game in question, this taste can vary - in earlier or lower-quality games, it is much more present, whereas those which are more recent and/or had their audio conducted in a much more careful and articulate matter sound more natural. In a sense, it's as though you're simply listening to a .mid or .s3m file of exceptional quality, made by a fan of the game: it matches all the notes and the instruments, but it's not quite as good as the track on the OST or in the game (which is limited in itself, as stated earlier).

The question thus stands: in cases in which a OST for a game has been released to the market, is ripping these audio files from the games themselves and distributing them on the internet or through other means the same as copying them from the OST's discs and distributing them in a similar manner?

Sharpshooter wrote:
The question thus stands: in cases in which a OST for a game has been released to the market, is ripping these audio files from the games themselves and distributing them on the internet or through other means the same as copying them from the OST's discs and distributing them in a similar manner?

as you're ripping from the game itself as opposed to the OST. . . .well, it's questionable. there's many sites out there that host spc files over mp3 for various reasons. chief among them is the low file size. i'm not entirely sure where copyright law would fall onto this, but i'd imagine it'd be akin to taking excerpts from a book and posting them online.

you're not copying the entire thing, but merely taking snippets and samples from the full item and letting other people sample them. course i'm not sure what the law says about this area, so most of this is pure speculation on my part.

I have the entire Goldeneye 64 soundtrack, taken from the ROM. I don't see how it would be illegal, since I paid for the cartridge, and should be allowed to do whatever I want with it (other than distribute and the like, obviously).

YT300000 wrote:I have the entire Goldeneye 64 soundtrack, taken from the ROM. I don't see how it would be illegal, since I paid for the cartridge, and should be allowed to do whatever I want with it (other than distribute and the like, obviously).

True, but in your case, since Rare hadn't released an OST to the market, there wasn't really any infringement on your behalf - there was no real product to ursurp. However, games such as Final Fantasy VII and VIII, Ys V, and Front Mission: Gun Hazard do have market-released OSTs, and in the case of straight ports, the music is almost exactly the same.

Go on: listen to the samples of Voice of Ark and Nature in the Front Mission: Gun Hazard OST and Sinister Shadow and Break into Territory from the Ys V one, then get .SPC copies from Zophar's Domain and other sites (The FM:GH one takes a bit of tracking to find - some site with a name related to Secret of Mana is where I got my copy) and compare (I'd host .wav copies myself, but simply getting the plug-ins, players, and .spcs would be more time and space-efficient).

As far as possession goes - even if one does own the game, you often can't listen to a track you want without some effort, and even then, you can only listen to it at your TV - what we're paying for in an OST is (asides from live performances of pieces in orchestral versions and so forth) is the convenience of having the music in a form we can take wherever we want, and where we can pick what track to play. The music itself is a moot point - it's all about convenience.

Sorry about the delay - last night was spent with my brother watching Chapter 25 of Clone Wars and Neo-BSG.