diff --git a/gallery_dl/downloader/common.py b/gallery_dl/downloader/common.py
index d1d5e52b..d88641b6 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/downloader/common.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/downloader/common.py
@@ -1,21 +1,37 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# Copyright 2014, 2015 Mike Fährmann
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+"""Common classes and constants used by downloader modules."""
+
 import os
 
 class BasicDownloader():
+    """Base class for downlaoder modules"""
 
     max_tries = 5
 
     def download(self, url, path):
+        """Download the resource at 'url' and write it to a file given by 'path'"""
         with open(path, "wb") as file:
             try:
                 return self.download_impl(url, file)
-                file.close()
             except:
                 # make sure to remove file if download failed
                 os.unlink(path)
                 raise
 
+    def download_impl(self, url, file_handle):
+        """Actual implementaion of the download process"""
+        pass
+
     @staticmethod
     def print_error(file, error, tries, max_tries=5):
+        """Print a message indicating an error during download"""
         if tries == 1 and hasattr(file, "name"):
             print("\r\033[1;31m", file.name, sep="")
         print("\033[0;31m[Error]\033[0m ", error, " (", tries, "/", max_tries, ")", sep="")
diff --git a/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py b/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py
index 153d6bc4..0bca5449 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/downloader/http.py
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# Copyright 2014, 2015 Mike Fährmann
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+"""Downloader module for http urls"""
+
 from .common import BasicDownloader
 import time
 import requests
@@ -14,9 +24,9 @@ class Downloader(BasicDownloader):
             # try to connect to remote source
             try:
                 response = self.session.get(url, stream=True, verify=True)
-            except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError as e:
+            except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError as exptn:
                 tries += 1
-                self.print_error(file, e, tries, self.max_tries)
+                self.print_error(file, exptn, tries, self.max_tries)
                 time.sleep(1)
                 if tries == self.max_tries:
                     raise
@@ -42,13 +52,16 @@ class Downloader(BasicDownloader):
         return tries
 
     def set_headers(self, headers):
+        """Set headers for http requests"""
         self.set_dict(self.session.headers, headers)
 
     def set_cookies(self, cookies):
+        """Set cookies for http requests"""
         self.set_dict(self.session.cookies, cookies)
 
     @staticmethod
     def set_dict(dest, src):
+        """Copy the contents of dictionary 'src' to 'dest'"""
         dest.clear()
         dest.update(src)
 
diff --git a/gallery_dl/downloader/text.py b/gallery_dl/downloader/text.py
index 36fa49c4..75dc9041 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/downloader/text.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/downloader/text.py
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# Copyright 2014, 2015 Mike Fährmann
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+"""Downloader module for text urls"""
+
 from .common import BasicDownloader
 
 class Downloader(BasicDownloader):