YouTube-dl Has Been Removed From GitHub By The Recording Industry

One of the most well-known pieces of software for downloading YouTube videos, youtube-dl, was removed from GitHub following a takedown notice from the RIAA.

The RIAA took down the YouTube-dl GitHub repositories by filing a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) infringement notice with GitHub.

The world’s most popular software repository has been given a takedown notice to remove a popular open-source tool used to download YouTube videos, claiming that it’s being used to “copy and/or distribute” copyrighted works.

While GitHub states that this is a DMCA infringement notice, it is not a takedown request for a copyright violation. Instead, the notice states that the repository should be taken down because it allows for downloading copyrighted music and is therefore illegal under both the USA and German law.

Indeed, the comments in the youtube-dl source code make clear that the source code was designed and is marketed for the purpose of circumventing YouTube’s technological measures to enable unauthorized access to our member’s copyrighted works, and to make unauthorized copies and distributions thereof: they identify our member’s works, they note that the works are VEVO videos (virtually all of which are owned by our member companies), they acknowledge those works are licensed to YouTube under the YouTube standard license, and they use those examples in the source code to describe how to obtain unauthorized access to copies of our members’ works.

As others have noted, YouTube-dl is used for far more than just downloading YouTube videos, but also to download free documentaries, public domain videos, and other works.

In the meantime, those who still have YouTube-dl on their device, or can obtain it from a mirror, are able to continue using it as normal. As YouTube-dl is a fairly well-known and powerful tool, with over 72,000 stars on GitHub, it’s likely there are many other tools that rely on it for their YouTube-related capabilities.

Bobby Borisov

Bobby Borisov

Bobby, an editor-in-chief at Linuxiac, is a Linux professional with over 20 years of experience. With a strong focus on Linux and open-source software, he has worked as a Senior Linux System Administrator, Software Developer, and DevOps Engineer for small and large multinational companies.

Think You're an Ubuntu Expert? Let's Find Out!

Put your knowledge to the test in our lightning-fast Ubuntu quiz!
Ten questions to challenge yourself to see if you're a Linux legend or just a penguin in the making.

1 / 10

Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means:

2 / 10

Who is the Ubuntu's founder?

3 / 10

What year was the first official Ubuntu release?

4 / 10

What does the Ubuntu logo symbolize?

5 / 10

What package format does Ubuntu use for installing software?

6 / 10

When are Ubuntu's LTS versions released?

7 / 10

What is Unity?

8 / 10

What are Ubuntu versions named after?

9 / 10

What's Ubuntu Core?

10 / 10

Which Ubuntu version is Snap introduced?

The average score is 68%

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *