# Downloading from youtube
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 24, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719 "2012-10-24T12:45:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/1 "2012-10-24T12:45:14Z")
Is it legal to download a music video from youtube? If it is, how could I go about doing so? I am asking not for a recent or popular song, but for some songs that were released on cassette back in 1987. As far as I know, this cassette is no longer produced, and my copy went bad several years ago. The songs are not on itunes or any other music download service that I am aware. Is my only option the brute force method of using a cassette tape recorder to record what is playing on my computer? I don’t mean to ask about how to do anything illegal if it is illegal, and do not want to get anyone in trouble. Thanks for any help. Please move to cafe society if this belongs there.
The songs I am looking for are Mexican Christmas songs from multiple artists released as a compilation tape called Esta Navidad.
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### Author:  [@firstname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstname)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/2 "2012-10-24T12:51:21Z")
There is a paid program that will do this called “Replay Media Catcher”, I’m sure its not exactly legal to use on youtube, also if you know how to use bittorrent it can be obtained for free, which I’m sure isn’t exactly legal either.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/3 "2012-10-24T13:49:42Z")
I don’t know about legality of downloading music videos from YouTube, but yes, it’s easily done without needing to buy or install any software. A Google search on “download YouTube video” will list many options; I use a website called Keepvid. You can either download the video and audio as a file that can be stored and replayed on your computer, or download just the audio in MP3 format.
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### Author:  [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/4 "2012-10-24T14:06:49Z")
I’m not a lawyer, so I cannot give legal advice. This is purely my opinion.
Now that I have covered my rear, my assumption is that this could go either way. You aren’t looking to steal anything, only for a backup of what you’ve already paid for.
As far as I know, you are allowed to copy your own CDs and tapes for the purpose of having a backup copy in the event of the destruction of the original.
I suppose if you are ever questioned, you could say you simply copied it from the cassette before it was destroyed. But the best answer would come from a lawyer that knows this stuff.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/5 "2012-10-24T17:42:34Z")
Get the Firefox add on “Download Helper” its designed to effortlessly capture youtube. There’s usually a choice of video resolutions depending on what was originally uploaded.
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/6 "2012-10-24T17:50:48Z")
I’ve also seen web-based services that convert specified YouTube videos into MP3 audio files, which you can then download. I can’t remember which one I had most success with, but I’m sure you can find several to try through Google.
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### Author:  [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/7 "2012-10-24T20:31:43Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> Is it legal to download a music video from youtube?
It is a violation of their [terms of service](http://www.youtube.com/static?gl=US&template=terms) to do so unless they provide an explicit link:
> [@](#):
>
> 1. B. Content is provided to you AS IS. You may access Content for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the Service and as permitted under these Terms of Service. \*\*You shall not download any Content unless you see a “download” or similar link displayed by YouTube on the Service for that Content. \*\*You shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content. YouTube and its licensors reserve all rights not expressly granted in and to the Service and the Content.
(my emphasis)
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### Author:  [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/8 "2012-10-24T22:37:02Z")
> [@tellyworth](#):
>
> It is a violation of their [terms of service](http://www.youtube.com/static?gl=US&template=terms) to do so unless they provide an explicit link:
>
> (my emphasis)
I may not download content from YouTube? The very act of visiting a web site means that the content I am accessing is going to get automatically downloaded to the cache. I guess they don’t want people using their service at all.:smack:
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/9 "2012-10-25T00:07:09Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#):
>
> I may not download content from YouTube? The very act of visiting a web site means that the content I am accessing is going to get automatically downloaded to the cache. I guess they don’t want people using their service at all.:smack:
Don’t equivocate on the definition of “download,” please. It’s disingenuous. Streaming a video from youtube gives them the opportunity to advertise to the viewer. Downloading and storing the content on your computer removes their ability to advertise to you. It also robs that video of a proper view-count, which is important to many content creators.
That said, I don’t really have a moral problem with storing stuff from youtube. I just hate disingenuous equivocation.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/10 "2012-10-25T00:50:15Z")
> [@scr4](#):
>
> I’ve also seen web-based services that convert specified YouTube videos into MP3 audio files, which you can then download. I can’t remember which one I had most success with, but I’m sure you can find several to try through Google.
Youtube-to-MP3 is one.
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### Author:  [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/11 "2012-10-25T00:51:00Z")
Read the sentence before that one. Also, what Rachellelogram said.
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/12 "2012-10-25T01:42:21Z")
Google the phrase ‘youtube to mp3’
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### Author:  [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/13 "2012-10-25T01:45:47Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#):
>
> Streaming a video from youtube gives them the opportunity to advertise to the viewer. Downloading and storing the content on your computer removes their ability to advertise to you. It also robs that video of a proper view-count, which is important to many content creators.
This seems exactly the same as the old stink about recording TV with VCR/DVR or recording the radio with cassette. Except with the internet. I’m not convinced that if push came to shove legally that Youtube/Google has an argument any more valid than those guys did.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/14 "2012-10-25T02:17:05Z")
It’s not the same situation. The Betamax decision hinged on the idea that time shifting was a legitimate use. In defining time shifting the court assumed that the user was deleting the copy as soon as it was used and that it wasn’t becoming a permanent copy. The decision was not regarding any particular person’s use if a VCR but rather whether the VCR itself was primarily a tool for infringement. In this case this isn’t a question. You’re using Youtube’s service pursuant to a contract and the contract says you’re allowed to stream but not download. Downloading is thus potentially an unauthorized copy and definitely a breach of contract. If Sony had, instead of selling VCRs, rented out VCRs subject to a service contract that said you could it for X but not Y, then that would be analogous.
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### Author:  [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/15 "2012-10-25T02:29:22Z")
Right, but the whole “by using this site/software you hereby agree to” (i.e. EULAs) are relatively untested in courts and their validity is [volatile](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_license_agreement#Enforceability_of_EULAs_in_the_United_States) at best – for any given EULA or implicit licensing agreement it’s pretty difficult to know whether or not it will be ruled binding or not. Just looking at that Wikipedia site, website and download EULAs are completely untested, and so far only EULAs for “off the shelf” software have any precedence. And like I mentioned, that precedence is malleable and unclear at best.
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### Author:  [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/16 "2012-10-25T02:38:58Z")
I’m a big fan of RealPlayer for downloading YouTube content in general (although I know you asked about audio specifically) When you watch a video in Internet Explorer (don’t know if it works with other browers) there’s a drop down window at the top of the video if you want to download it, and it saves it in the native Flash Video format there’s no file conversion that might degade the video. RealPlayer will also play back the flash videos from your computer; some options make you convert the file or find another program to play them.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downloading-from-youtube/638719/17 "2012-10-26T21:34:29Z")
> [@Jragon](#):
>
> This seems exactly the same as the old stink about recording TV with VCR/DVR or recording the radio with cassette. Except with the internet. I’m not convinced that if push came to shove legally that Youtube/Google has an argument any more valid than those guys did.
Interestingly enough, the Copyright Office issued a notice of a [new rule](http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-10-26/html/2012-26308.htm) today on exemptions to the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA and addressed this issue at length (government publication, not protected by copyright law):
> [@](#):
>
> Public Knowledge cited _RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc._, 180 F.3d 1072 (1999), and _Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc._, 464 U.S. 417 (1984), in support of its contention that space shifting is a noncommercial personal use, and therefore a fair use. It applied the four-factor fair use test of Section 107 in support of its assertion that the sort of space shifting for which it sought an exemption is a noninfringing use. Public Knowledge further argued that the space shifting would not negatively impact the availability of, or harm the market for, copyrighted works, or contribute to piracy. Finally, Public Knowledge claimed that there were no reasonable alternatives to such space shifting.
>
> * * *
>
> The Register recognized that there is significant consumer interest in the proposed exemption. Proponents, however, had the burden of demonstrating that the requested use was noninfringing. **Neither of the two key cases relied upon by proponents, however, addresses or informs the space shifting activities at issue.**
>
> The Register noted that she had previously explained that _Diamond Multimedia_—a case in which the court was called upon to interpret the Audio Home Recording Act (“AHRA”)—“did not hold that ‘space- shifting’ is fair use. It did state, in dicta, that ‘space-shifting’ of digital and analog musical recordings is a noncommercial personal use consistent with the Audio Home Recording Act.” Notably, neither Diamond Multimedia, nor the statute it interpreted, addressed motion pictures, the focus of Public Knowledge’s proposal _[the Audio Home Recording act applies to musical recordings, specifically]_.
>
> Turning to _Sony_, the Register clarified that that case involved “time-shifting,” defined by the Supreme Court as **“the practice of recording a program to view it once at a later time, and thereafter erasing it.”** It did not address the legality of “librarying,” i.e., the maintenance of copies of copyrighted works. Here, by contrast, librarying was among the activities contemplated by the proposed exemptions.
>
> **The Register further observed that the law does not guarantee access to copyrighted material in a user’s preferred format or technique. Indeed, copyright owners typically have the legal authority to decide whether and how to exploit new formats.** The Register noted that while the law may someday evolve to accommodate some of proponents’ proposed uses, more recent cases touching upon space shifting confirm that the fair use implications of various forms of space shifting are far from settled. The Register reiterated her view that the Section 1201 rulemaking process was “not the forum in which to break new ground on the scope of fair use.” She then proceeded to assess the proposed exemptions under the traditional fair use factors.
>
> In urging that space shifting is a fair use, Public Knowledge characterized the copying of motion pictures for use on personal devices as a “paradigmatic noncommercial personal use” that could facilitate a transformative use. It further asserted that integrating reproductions of motion pictures from DVDs into a consumer’s media management software was analogous to the integration of thumbnail images into Internet search engines found to be a transformative use in _Perfect 10, Inc. v. [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), Inc._, 487 F.3d 701 (9th Cir. 2007).
>
> The Register did not agree with this analysis. In her view, **the incorporation of reproductions of motion pictures from DVDs into a consumer’s media management software is not equivalent to the provision of public search engine functionality. Rather, it is simply a means for an individual consumer to access content for the same entertainment purpose as the original work. Put another way, it does not “add[] something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning,” or advance criticism, comment, or any other interest enumerated in the preamble of Section 107.** The Register therefore concluded that the first fair use factor did not favor a finding of fair use. The Register additionally determined that where creative works were being copied in their entirety, factors two and three also weighed against fair use, and that there was an inadequate basis in the record to conclude that the developing market for the online distribution of motion pictures would not be harmed by the proposed uses.
>
> Finally, the Register concluded that proponents had failed to demonstrate that the use of a reasonably priced peripheral, a different device, or an online subscription service to access and play desired content did not offer a reasonable alternative to circumvention. Accordingly, the Register was not persuaded that the inability to engage in the space shifting activities described by proponents is having a substantial adverse impact on consumers’ ability to make noninfringing uses of copyrighted works.
>
> * * *