RIAA closes 18 GitHub projects to download videos from YouTube

Microsoft-owned GitHub today removed 18 projects following a legal request from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In the letter he sent to GitHub, the RIAA argued that "the clear purpose of this source code [the youtube-dl library]" is to "circumvent technology protection measures used by authorized streaming services such as YouTube" and allow users to "reproduce" and distribute music videos and recordings […] without permission. ”

The RIAA said the project source code "explicitly recommends its use for copying and / or distributing the following copyrighted projects."

The RIAA is an organization that claims to represent about 85% of the entire US recording industry, and has asked GitHub to remove the youtube-dl project from its site, along with forks (copies managed by other users).

Youtube-dl and 17 copies are included in the RIAA letter, which are no longer accessible:

github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl
github.com/benkeung/youtube-dl
github.com/cyberjacob/youtube-dl
github.com/elaopinska/youtube-dl
github.com/huangciyin/youtube-dl
github.com/jckelley/youtube-dl
github.com/LouisPlisso/youtube-dl
github.com/ojauch/youtube-dl
github.com/rbrito/youtube-dl
github.com/successLee/youtube-dl
github.com/trammel/youtube-dl
github.com/vs9390/youtube-dl
github.com/zackfern/youtube-dl
github.com/tosuch/youtube-dl
github.com/pornophage/youtube-dl
github.com/tejaskhot/youtube-dl
github.com/VideoUtils/youtube-dl
github.com/798221028/youtube-dl

Although GitHub took the RIAA letter as a request to remove the DMCA, the letter was not. As Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer pointed out on Twitter today, the RIAA does not claim that the library has violated its rights, but that the library itself is illegal.

As anyone who has used youtube-dl knows, it is an extremely powerful and useful tool for format-shifting. It's super popular among archivists and has incredibly broad fair use applications. The RIAA stance here is pretty aggressive and out there.

- Parker Higgins (@xor) October 23, 2020

The library is often used to create YouTube video copy services that allow users to download YouTube music videos as MP3 songs for free.

However, as Freedom of the Press member Parker Higgins pointed out, youtube-dl is an essential tool for Internet archivists, who often use it to download videos of violence or social injustice before being removed from YouTube for infringement. regulations.

As anyone who has used youtube-dl knows, it is an extremely powerful and useful tool for format-shifting. It's super popular among archivists and has incredibly broad fair use applications. The RIAA stance here is pretty aggressive and out there.

- Parker Higgins (@xor) October 23, 2020

Before it was removed, the youtube-dl project had more than 72.000 stars on GitHub, making it one of the most popular repositories.