Legally Ripping Soundtracks from Games.

Coriolanus

Found this article interesting, some of you might find it the same.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/05/dj-hero-soundtrack-the-quest-for-a-rip.ars

Raving with the DMCA: a quest for a legal DJ Hero soundtrack By Ben Kuchera | Last updated 3 days ago

The soundtrack for DJ Hero is amazing. Featuring a wide array of artists, the magic comes from the big-name DJs that mix each set of tracks together to create something new. Who is on the soundtrack? Daft Punk, Marvin Gaye, 2Pac, Motörhead, The Killers, Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas, Gang Starr, Herbie Hancock, Queen, Jay-Z, Afrika Bambaataa... it's an impressive list. I was hoping for a soundtrack release, but an e-mail sent to one of my buddies at Activision was returned with a note saying none was in the works. So what is one to do?
Despite my hope, it's really no shock that there won't be a commercial release of this music; it would be a licensing nightmare. Both songs that make up each track would need to be licensed again commercially, as would the work of the producers, which includes talent such as Grandmaster Flash, DJ Shadow, DJ AM, Cut Chemist, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. That's three parties for each track! Getting everyone to agree on an equitable cut of the profits for the sale of CDs and digital downloads could take a very long time, especially with such a wide variety of contemporary, classic rock, hip-hop, and pop acts. It would be an expensive project, and the sales might not ultimately be worth the effort. So what if we just grabbed the music files from our copy of the game?

I asked staff attorney Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Freedom Foundation a simple question: am I breaking the law if I grab the tracks myself? "I'd say you have a very plausible argument that this is a fair use, particularly if the songs are not otherwise available for purchase, as your activity would not be a substitute for the originals," he explained. "This is essentially no different from re-recording the audio track of a concert DVD that you own to listen to on your iPod."
Von Lohmann further cautions that this only works for personal use: burning copies of the music for friends who don't own the game would likely put me on the wrong side of the law.
Thus began my search for ways to get the music files off my game disc. Unfortunately, it seemed as if every method of ripping the discs required breaking the copy protection, which would have put me afoul of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. After spending some time researching ways to rip the files—learning quite a bit about Wii modding in the process—I gave up. My goal was to do this legally, and that seemed impossible. I contacted von Lohmann again to ask for advice.
"It seems unlikely that you can't get the files without breaking copy protection—doesn't the Wii have a digital audio output? If so, it's not DRMed, because there is no DRM standard for Toslink or coax audio outputs," he told me. "If it's HDMI only, I'm not sure that the audio portion of HDMI is protected—I assume you can HDMI to your receiver, then do optical digital out from your receiver to an audio capture card. Of course, the analog audio outputs can be patched right to an audio capture card, too. No DRM there!"
DJ Hero includes a party mode, which allows you to load up a setlist and have the game play itself. It makes for great background music, and it's also a simple way to play through the entire collection of music to make a copy using audio outputs. After few hours of work, I had all of the tracks on my PC.
The music is right there in the game, and a legal collection would undoubtedly be a hot item for fans of these artists. It's just a shame that extracting it from the game without breaking the law is such a complicated and time-consuming affair.
I'm listening to Beastie Boys by way of DJ Shadow as I write this, though, and as a music fan, I'm very happy with my new, legal, collection of music. As someone who writes about gaming and technology, however, I found the hoops I had to jump through to legally access the music on another device terribly depressing.

Tallon

I've been ripping game music an sfx's for years, assuming it was legal becuase I own the game and aren't selling it commercially.

This is an interesting read alright, especially since I have a capture card now

Off to 'play' ICO :pac:

jaykhunter

I thought that acquiring in-game music for use when not playing in the game was illegal, no matter the method. But sure, making a second copy of a CD you own (even for personal use) is illegal too.

I'd imagine "illegal" is relative; moreso the likelyhood of said infraction being noticed or acted upon by the copyright holders. I'd reason if you own the game, you can listen to whatever's on the game, but technically it's illegal... Meh, I don't think the MPAA particularly care of personal-bootlegging game soundtracks, and if no concerns are raised or ever voiced, it's grand.

On a smaller but similar point, this is kind of similar to using VCRs to record your favourite TV show (i.e. for personal use). Technically it's illegal but nothing will ever come of it, unless it's part of a larger infraction (ie selling it for money). I didn't get why VCRs came programmed (with Video+ etc) to record channels and shows, since it's technically illegal.

Anyway, go for it!

tman

The last time I tried this was listening to Flashback FM from GTAIII (my penchant for cheesy 80s music is showing here!:o)
It was pretty much handed to you on a plate then, and I can't really see the point in doing it for many other (PC) games. Needlessly complicated and you can find the songs with ease elsewhere.

Saying that you're entitled to rip the music from a game is bollocks, it's like saying you're entitled to download the soundtrack for a film that you own, seeing as you've already paid for the film....
Didn't stop me from doing it, but even back then in my innocent youth I knew it wasn't exactly legal

Coriolanus

tman wrote: »

The last time I tried this was listening to Flashback FM from GTAIII (my penchant for cheesy 80s music is showing here!:o)
It was pretty much handed to you on a plate then, and I can't really see the point in doing it for many other (PC) games. Needlessly complicated and you can find the songs with ease elsewhere.

Saying that you're entitled to rip the music from a game is bollocks, it's like saying you're entitled to download the soundtrack for a film that you own, seeing as you've already paid for the film....
Didn't stop me from doing it, but even back then in my innocent youth I knew it wasn't exactly legal

The mini disc was a God send for this.
I had the entire soundtracks from Gta 3, Vice City and San Andreas on mine at various times.

jaykhunter

lol, i can only imagine the cost of the complete soundtracks to the later GTA games!

i remember when Vice City came out, thought it'd be awesome if the OST came out on audio cassette....although no-one would've bought it

I'd have to think that games which don't have soundtracks (that you can buy) are low on the list of infractions that the copyright holders go after. I don't see how recording the soundtrack yourself is any more legal than obtaining it from someone else who's already done so.