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YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

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Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#121

Post by Zenst »

molmalo wrote: post #37
jchw wrote: post #4

Note that RIAA is making this takedown because the software CAN be used to download copyrighted music and videos, and it uses examples in the ~~README~~(unit tests, see correction[1]) as an example of that: > We also note that the source code prominently includes as sample uses of the source code the downloading of copies of our members’ copyrighted sound recordings and music videos, as noted in Exhibit A hereto. For…

I was thinking the same thing: The next step following this line of thinking would be trying to ban all torrent clients, because they CAN be used to download copyrighted material. This is crazy.

Yes, would be messed up given the state of play upon gun laws.

Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#123

Post by jagged-chisel »

crazygringo wrote: post #21

Curious if anyone with legal expertise knows if this has legs? They say: > The clear purpose of this source code is to (i) circumvent the technological protection measures used by authorized streaming services such as YouTube, and (ii) reproduce and distribute music videos and sound recordings owned by our member companies without authorization for such use. But the "circumventing" is still accessing a stream the use…

I feel like if they'd been more patient, they might have addressed the similarity to the "analog hole."

Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#124

Post by ntauthority »

lukifer wrote: post #76
Santosh83 wrote: post #7

How can a program be in violation of DMCA? Is a knife in violation of the criminal justice system because some people use it to kill and therefore no one can use it anywhere, ever? How ridiculous.

This isn't a new debate; in the early days of the DMCA, it was used to go after the author of DeCSS [0], despite the fact that legitimate Fair Use cases for the tool exist (personal backups, playback on unsupported devices at the time, like Linux PCs). The case was in fact stronger there, as DeCSS explicitly circumvented encryption [1], which AFAIK youtube-dl does not. And, of course, the infamous case of Napster [2]…

From the youtube-dl source code, in a file helpfully called youtube.py:

    def _decrypt_signature(self, s, video_id, player_url, age_gate=False):
        """Turn the encrypted s field into a working signature"""

        if player_url is None:
            raise ExtractorError('Cannot decrypt signature without player_url')
It definitely does do decryption, as stated in the DMCA claim:

> is a technology primarily designed or produced for the purpose of, and marketed for, circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to copyrighted sound recordings on YouTube

.. and some claims referencing a 'youtube to mp3' site ruled illegal by a German court.

Not defending this, 'effective technological measures' are a horribly broadly-scoped hole, but there is decryption at play here.

Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#126

Post by dirtnugget »

romwell wrote: post #90
Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why stop with torrent clients? They should ban all browsers, because they CAN be used to download copyrighted materials!

Browsers? We need to ban radios with tape decks and TVs with VCRs! The audio cassette and the VHS are bringing the downfall of the music industry with how easily they can be used to create unauthorized copies! Oh wait.

Thanks for the throwback

Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#127

Post by superkuh »

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #111
crazygringo wrote: post #21

Curious if anyone with legal expertise knows if this has legs? They say: > The clear purpose of this source code is to (i) circumvent the technological protection measures used by authorized streaming services such as YouTube, and (ii) reproduce and distribute music videos and sound recordings owned by our member companies without authorization for such use. But the "circumventing" is still accessing a stream the use…

The entire IP concept is really hard to make sense of with the web: a browser works by making a local copy of a remote resource and then making that local copy available to the user. I don’t see why, from the server’s perspective, the precise client matters: if I use curl + pandoc to read your webpage, is that really meaningfully different from using Firefox or Chrome?

> is that really meaningfully different from using Firefox or Chrome?

In the USA legally it is because the vast majority of the judges that have ruled on these things think anything that isn't a browser is a hacking tool. Using wget is enough to get you thrown in federal prison for accessing public web resources.

Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#128

Post by dvtrn »

molmalo wrote: post #37
jchw wrote: post #4

Note that RIAA is making this takedown because the software CAN be used to download copyrighted music and videos, and it uses examples in the ~~README~~(unit tests, see correction[1]) as an example of that: > We also note that the source code prominently includes as sample uses of the source code the downloading of copies of our members’ copyrighted sound recordings and music videos, as noted in Exhibit A hereto. For…

I was thinking the same thing: The next step following this line of thinking would be trying to ban all torrent clients, because they CAN be used to download copyrighted material. This is crazy.

The next step following this line of thinking would be trying to ban all torrent clients, because they CAN be used to download copyrighted material

Didn't the RIAA put up a considerable effort against torrenting in the early 2000's? I remember quite vividly them going after just about anyone who made music available, even if you owned your own songs and were simply uploading them to a web UI to listen to in the browser (Remember Muxtape?)

Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#129

Post by indigochill »

3np wrote: post #19

It's outrageous indeed that GH/MS is complying. It's not that far from targeting wget or curl, were it not for the widespread use of them in industry.

While the takedown request is outrageous, I'd probably respond the same in MS's shoes. Frankly defending it is not worth the corporate lawyering required from MS's perspective.

That said, I think if Youtube-dl self-hosted on Gitlab or something and received a similar takedown, they could probably mount a successful defense.

Re: YouTube-dl has received a DMCA takedown from RIAA

#130

Post by topkai22 »

boogies wrote: post #56

Hope this motivates a few more free software devs to move away to a free host, at least apart from GH mirrors for exposure. IUUC importing this to GitLab would have taken ~½dozen clicks and saved the open issues, etc.?

GitLab also has to comply with DMCA complaints. A quick search brought up their procedure: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/security/opera...

They'll still take down a repo and block the user if it is hosted. And self hosting something isn't free, plus quite possibly puts more legal exposure on the team.

This isn't a problem with technologies or the platform. There fundamentally needs to be a narrowing of DMCA, a presumption of innocence rather than guilt, and penalties for issuing unjustified takedowns.

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