Thanks for the answer! The question popped into my mind when I saw someone had mentioned he'd rather download the tracks than buy the bootlegs (page one I think).

I actually noticed that about one of my PC games, namely my Age of Mythology game. Interesting to see that they'd leave their music so unprotected, save for the statements in the EULAs (which, as far as I know, most people never read all the way through).

Getting back to the pirates, though. Honestly, I'd have to say I agree that ripping the songs from the ROMs for personal use are the lesser of the two evils when compared to buying a pirated bootleg. At least you're not spending money on a fake, and adding to the pockets of the pirates to boot. Still, I wouldn't do it unless the soundtrack in question were impossible to get any other way.

Thanks to this thread I'm going to learn to do a little more research on an eBay (or other) import soundtrack purchase before I actually buy. If any of the ones I have now are fake though, I guess I'll just have to deal with it :\