YouTube Video Download Is Legal or not?

YouTube Video Download Is Legal or not?
Hello , I usually download the clips on Google video, dailymotion or YouTube and extract the audio track then. Am I within the law or not? I think this is a sensitive issue .... please Help to Clear my Doubt about it Thank you in advance for your replies

#2
03-04-2009

Marco-D
Member

Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 181
Re: YouTube Video Download Is Legal or not?
It's only as legal as the video itself that was uploaded. If copyrighted material was uploaded illegally, then it would also be illegal to download it onto your machine. If you are caught with illegal videos, the penalties will cost much more than if you had just bought the item in the first place.

#3
03-04-2009

Shen
Member

Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 2,914
Re: YouTube Video Download Is Legal or not?
ensure it is not copyright, and for personal use only - just like recording tv programmes with the VCR.

#4
03-04-2009

Zachary
Member

Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,942
Re: YouTube Video Download Is Legal or not?
Hello , read a extract from a News posted at Cnet

Quote:
Users of YouTube and other video-sharing sites could face $750 per clip penalties if they have watched a video that was uploaded without the copyright holder's permission.

Copyright infringement in the United States strict liability offense. What this means, is that users are liable when they illegally copy works, even if they're not aware that this is wrong, or that the work is protected by copyright.

As an example, let us consider the popular video sharing website YouTube.

Every week, 6 days after the show airs, HBO uploads the most recent episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher." However, within a few hours of the show's TV broadcast, a number of other users upload copies that they have recorded with their computers.

When a user visits YouTube, and searches for "Bill Maher", he will see a large number of results - some of which will be for official content uploaded by HBO, and the vast majority of which is for copyrighted content illegally uploaded by other users.

According to a strict reading of the copyright laws, and discussions with legal scholars, users could unknowingly be liable if they click on the wrong YouTube link. The fact that they're not aware that a video was illegally uploaded is irrelevant. All that matters is that they clicked on a link, and watched the video.

For BitTorrent websites like The Pirate Bay, where the vast majority of the files are illegal, it is at least semi-reasonable to expect most users to know that they are engaged in an illegal act. However, for sites like YouTube, where both legal and illegal content are available on the same platform, it is significantly trickier. How exactly, are the less-tech savvy amongst us supposed to determine if a file is legal to watch?
source-Cnet
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#5
03-04-2009

Big Fish
Member

Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,509
Re: YouTube Video Download Is Legal or not?
Actually, YES, it IS legal to download youtube videos, as long as youtube had a legal right to show that video in the first place.

Way back in the '70s, when VCR's first came out, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that ANY content that is obtained from a legal source and used for personal, non-commercial use is legal.
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