Since hearing about the whole Megaupload fiasco, I've gotten to the point of thinking about a few things regarding Video game music and I have 2 questions regarding this matter

1. Is it legal to download video game music from the Internet? I've been told several times its legal if you own the game you are downloading the music for but is this true in general?

2. If I put video game music in a video and put it on Youtube, is it legal?

Thanks in advance

Since hearing about the whole Megaupload fiasco, I've gotten to the point of thinking about a few things regarding Video game music and I have 2 questions regarding this matter

1. Is it legal to download video game music from the Internet? I've been told several times its legal if you own the game you are downloading the music for but is this true in general?

2. If I put video game music in a video and put it on Youtube, is it legal?

Thanks in advance

sorry but i don't have a good answer. i myself would like to know this.

my guess would be that if a game soundtrack has been released officially (whether it be on cd or as a download at itunes, amazon, etc) then yeah it's illegal.

technically i think it's illegal to download copyrighted game music that also hasn't been released BUT i highly doubt authorities are going to take the time to go after people that downloaded music that wasn't being profited from in the first place

---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------

but i might be wrong

---------- Post added at 06:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

really, if you're that worried about being busted, exactly what have you been dl'ing? if you're constantly going after major label RI** licensed pop music, then yeah you might wanna cut back on that

i assume since you're a shriner you're most likely into game music and/or film scores. you're probably not as big a target for authorities in that case

sorry but i don't have a good answer. i myself would like to know this.

my guess would be that if a game soundtrack has been released officially (whether it be on cd or as a download at itunes, amazon, etc) then yeah it's illegal.

technically i think it's illegal to download copyrighted game music that also hasn't been released BUT i highly doubt authorities are going to take the time to go after people that downloaded music that wasn't being profited from in the first place

---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:37 PM ----------

but i might be wrong

---------- Post added at 06:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

really, if you're that worried about being busted, exactly what have you been dl'ing? if you're constantly going after major label RI** licensed pop music, then yeah you might wanna cut back on that

i assume since you're a shriner you're most likely into game music and/or film scores. you're probably not as big a target for authorities in that case

I've never downloaded music besides Video Game Music. I never bothered with RIAA music because I knew it was illegal.
1 thing I would like to know, does the RIAA cover video game music? I would think not.

1. Is it legal to download video game music from the Internet? I've been told several times its legal if you own the game you are downloading the music for but is this true in general?


Your first question is very broad in scope, since video game music comes in many forms, from fan-made MIDI files to officially pressed discs. I would argue that it is illegal to download anything officially released (or manufactured), but not illegal to DL fan-made stuff from vgmusic.com, ocremix, Dwelling of Duels, etc. One thing I have never been able to understand is how it can be illegal to download a digital copy of a physical object, especially when all of the physical objects are no longer in the marketplace. People that download digital copies without paying aren't hurting sales because they wouldn't buy the physical object anyway. In fact, I would argue that so-called "illegal" downloading is actually quite beneficial, since it is free advertising. A certain percentage of people that DL stuff without paying may be inspired to buy the physical object or similar objects.

I don't see how owning a video game can give one the legal right to download the officially released CD, since they are often independently released products. However, if someone rips the soundtrack and posts it online, then I see nothing wrong with downloading that, since what you downloaded was not a copy of a physical object. A fan-made rip is not identical to an official release.

This is the truth of the law essentially: if you don't own the copyright, you can't do anything with it for more than personal use or under the guidelines of fair use (hint: making digital copies and posting them to the Internet for people to download or listen to like on YouTube is not one). Technically, even posting a fanmade arrangement is a copyright infringement. Now the place where it becomes more gray is the practical application - whether or not the owners care or a court would award damages. If Square-Enix wanted to sue you for your techno remix of "Rydia's Theme" they might have trouble establishing that they were actually damaged by it and so nothing may well happen to you. There are lots of copyright infringements no one bothers to pursue since it's so trivial. Know how Wikipedia has those strict guidelines on image submission? That's because they're trying to do it the proper, legal way. And that stuff about deleting it from your hard drive within 24 hours makes it legal is completely wrong.

Obviously though, I'm here so I have some disagreement about the law and copyright, as I suspect many more here do. If you'll indulge me getting up on my soap box for a couple paragraphs: In the United States, copyright was originally 7 years (I think this number is correct; I'm writing from memory. I could look it up, but... meh). The idea was to promote the expansion of the public domain by encouraging creators to create and giving them a short period to make money off their work exclusively before it became part of the general body of our cultural knowledge. This exclusive period was extended over time, again and again, often instigated by Disney, ever afraid of Mickey Mouse becoming public domain, to the point where copyright length is now life of the author plus 75 years. If you ask me, that's completely ridiculous and I do think very far away from the original intention, which just happened to be very smart and right. It was supposed to improve society and enrich our lives, and now I think it's become unhealthy and limiting, and only enriching because some art still is produced, in spite of the business side's infection of this vitally important aspect of human life.

We all know mainstream pop music is basically terrible, with few exceptions, and I'm unconvinced that so many people would buy Ke$ha if we actually had a free musical market where more things could get exposed. Between Clear Channel controlling radio and big labels being about hardly anything but the bottom line, I think this "trouble" the music business is in is actually the best thing for it. Well, maybe not for business, but for us, the general public, absolutely. But I encourage everyone to not pirate from the little guys or the things that are actually good deals. I've bought a fair amount of game music from iTunes or Bandcamp but I don't share it here because I think the most I ever spent was like $12, and we should support that because it's affordable and not dicking us over. Bandcamp is especially great, no region lock-outs, a lossless option, but iTunes is really high quality and allows you to download again if you lose the original as many times as you want. If only all this game music were available so easily, affordably, and in such a generally good manner, I wouldn't have to pirate any at all.