youtube-dl
Stable release
youtube-dl being used to download Big Buck Bunny from YouTube
Original author(s)	Ricardo García Gonzalez
Initial release	August 8, 2006; 14 years ago
Repository	github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl
Written in	Python
Operating system	Windows, macOS, Linux
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	Stream recorder
License	Unlicense
Website	youtube-dl.org

As you can see in the above screenshot, Youtube-dl lists all available formats of the given video. From left to right, it displays the video format code, extension and resolution note of the respective video. Youtube-dl is a free and open-source command-line utility that you can use to download YouTube videos as well as integrate this functionality into your own software applications. Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages. Files for youtubedl, version 2021.6.6. Save youtube-dl.exe to your Windows user directory (e.g. C: Users MyUser) to make it easy to access when you open the Windows command line with cmd.exe. Tip: If you want to use youtube-dl.exe from any directory within the command line, you can add youtube-dl to your Windows PATH environment variable. Youtube-dl can be installed on most Linux distributions using the built-in package manager (apt, yum, etc). # apt based distros Ubuntu, Debian, etc sudo apt install youtube-dl # yum based distros Redhat, Centos, Fedora sudo yum install youtube-dl.

youtube-dl is an open-sourcedownload manager for video and audio from YouTube^[2] and over 1000 other video hosting websites.^[3] It is released under the Unlicensesoftware license.^[4]

As of July 2021, youtube-dl is one of the most starred projects on GitHub, with over 98.2k stars.^[5] According to libraries.io, 276 other packages and 1.43k repositories depend on it.^[6]

History[edit]

youtube-dl was created in 2006 by Ricardo Garcia.^[7] Initially, only YouTube was supported, but as the project grew, it began supporting other video sharing websites.^[8] Ricardo Garcia stepped down as maintainer in 2011 and was replaced with phihag, who later stepped down and was replaced with dstftw.^[9]

RIAA takedown request[edit]

Wikinews has related news:

On October 23, 2020, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) issued a takedown notice to GitHub under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), requesting the removal of youtube-dl and 17 public forks of the project. The RIAA request argued that youtube-dl violates the Section 1201 anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA, and provisions of German copyright law, since it circumvents a 'rolling cipher' used by YouTube to generate the URL for the video file itself (which the RIAA has considered to be an effective technical protection measure, since it is 'intended to inhibit direct access to the underlying YouTube video files, thereby preventing or inhibiting the downloading, copying, or distribution of the video files'),^[10]^[11]^[12] and that its documentation expressly encouraged its use with copyrighted media by listing music videos by RIAA-represented artists as examples. GitHub complied with the request.^[13]^[14]^[15]

Users criticized the takedown, noting the legitimate uses for the application, including downloading video content released under open licensing schemes or to create derivative works falling under fair use (such as for archival and news reporting purposes).^[16]^[5]^[17] Public attention to the take-down resulted in Streisand effect reminiscent to that of DeCSS take-down. Users reposted the software's source code across the internet in multiple formats. For example, users posted images on Twitter containing the whole youtube-dl source code encoded in different colors on each pixel.^[18] GitHub users also filed pull requests to GitHub's own repository of DMCA takedown notices that included youtube-dl source code.^[18]^[19]

Wikinews has related news:

On November 16, 2020, GitHub publicly reinstated the repository, after the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent GitHub a document contesting the takedown notice, which clarified that the software was not capable of breaching commercial DRM systems. GitHub also announced that future takedown claims under Section 1201 would be manually scrutinized on a case-by-case basis by legal and technical experts.^[20]^[21]

References[edit]

^'Release youtube-dl 2021.06.06'.
^'Debian -- Details of package youtube-dl in sid'. packages.debian.org. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
^'Supported sites'. youtube-dl's GitHub Pages site. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^'Unlicense'. Unlicense.org. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
^ ^a^bCimpanu, Catalin. 'RIAA blitz takes down 18 GitHub projects used for downloading YouTube videos'. ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
^'youtube_dl on Pypi'. Libraries.io. Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
^Garcia, Ricardo (August 8, 2006). 'Release 2006.08.08'. Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
^'Supported sites'. youtube-dl. GitHub. 2019. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
^Garcia, Ricardo. 'It's very nice to see a project I started reach the front page of HN'. Hacker News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
^Plaugic, Lizzie (2016-09-27). 'Record labels sue popular YouTube audio-ripping site'. The Verge. Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
^Masnick, Mike. 'Can Someone Explain To The RIAA That SOPA Didn't Actually Pass?'. Techdirt. Archived from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
^'RIAA Delists YouTube Rippers From Google Using Rare Anti-Circumvention Notices'. TorrentFreak. 2019-11-09. Archived from the original on 2020-03-29. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
^'dmca/2020-10-23-RIAA.md at master · github/dmca'. GitHub. 2020-10-23. Archived from the original on 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
^Cimpanu, Catalin. 'RIAA blitz takes down 18 GitHub projects used for downloading YouTube videos'. ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
^Cushing, Tim (2020-10-26). 'RIAA Tosses Bogus Claim At Github To Get Video Downloading Software Removed'. Techdirt. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
^Cox, Kate (2020-10-26). 'GitHub boots popular YouTube download tool after RIAA claim'. Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-27

History[edit]

RIAA takedown request[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]