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Program Announcements / BlueLaguna.net automated music downloading tool

Author
Message
Rudolpho
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 28th Dec 2005
Location: Sweden
Posted: 28th Feb 2009 17:39 Edited at: 28th Feb 2009 18:18
I wrote this small tool for my own purposes the other day and figured that mayhap someone else could find it useful as well.

Here's the story:
There is a site known as [url="http://bluelaguna.net"]BlueLaguna.net[/url] that acts as a huge database of various RPG media from the big titles (the Final Fantasy are Silent Hill series for example) for download.
Now there are probably shared opinions about the legality of such a site; what is claimed by the owner is basically "You may download this if and only if you are a legitimit owner of the original product". That is generally interpreted as the exclusively sold soundtrack CD's (about the other available media, such as FMV's etc., I don't think you can buy these separate from the game at all).
My own idea of the legality is that I find it allowed to download the soundtrack for games that I (legally) own, since I could (as I actually did back in the days with Final Fantasy VIII) just hook up the audio connectors from my console to my stereo and from there record it. This doesn't apply to re-recorded orchestral versions, etc. of course, but only the music that is actually in the game. You might argue with me whether this is right or not, but this is the way that I regard it.

Anyhow, back on track, what my application does is basically to parse the html source of a specified page (this will only work with the music pages from bluelaguna.net), return a list of the tracks, allow the user to select which ones he want to download and then download them one by one in the background by locating the proper mirrors. Allthough written in DBPro, no extensive amount of CPU is drained due to sleeping. (On my machine, it registers as using 0 percents).

The reason I wrote this is because downloading them directly from the site works ok for one or two songs, but if you wanted an entire album (of > 50 tracks), the process would be way to tedious, since you have to:
1. Go to the soundtrack list
2. Locate the correct file
3. Wait for a while... possibly encounter some pop-ups
4. Select a mirror. Maybe it was down (happens a lot), then select another one
5. Select a location to save to, as well as the file name
6. Repeat

Here's a screenshot:


Note: I will not add any download until a moderator tells me his opinion on whether this is legal enough to be posted here or not.

Oolite
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 28th Sep 2005
Location: Middle of the West
Posted: 2nd Mar 2009 02:38
I'm just gonna give my 2p here.
While the music industry in general is usually against ripping and classes it as theft (i think purely because they think you are instantly going to upload it as a torrent or share it among friends) its ok for your own personal use. But having copyrighted media available for download without purchase from the original owners surely can't be legal.
Having a disclaimer saying 'you must own the original copies of this music to download' will partially save you from legal disputes but its a fact that everyone lies whilst on the internet and if they want the songs that badly they aren't going to let one disclaimer stop them.

Rudolpho
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 28th Dec 2005
Location: Sweden
Posted: 4th Mar 2009 11:51
Yes, I suppose you are right on that.
Oh well, it was all fun coding

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