GitHub reinstates popular YouTube downloader three weeks after its takedown over copyright complaint

Following intervention by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, GitHub changes its mind about Youtube-dll

Microsoft-owned GitHub has restored YouTube-dl, a popular YouTube downloader tool, which was removed from the code-hosting portal last month after the company receiving a copyright complaint from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Citing a letter from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (the EFF), GitHub said that the new information about the tool suggests that the tool didn't violate technical protection measures put in place by YouTube.

The RIAA, a trade organisation that claims to represent about 85 per cent of all the US recording industry, filed a legal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown request against YouTube-dl in October, alleging that the library was allowing users to "reproduce and distribute music videos and sound recordings [...] without authorisation."

Youtube-dl is a Python library that allows developers to build YouTube ripping services enabling internet users to download the source audio and video files behind YouTube videos.

In its DMCA letter, RIAA specifically mentioned the Section 1201 of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act to claim that YouTube-dl was being used to "circumvent the technological protection measures used by authorised streaming services such as YouTube" - enabling users to download copyrighted songs from artists such as Justin Timberlake, Charlie XCX and Taylor Swift.

RIAA also said that the source code of YouTube-dl project "expressly suggests its use to copy and/or distribute the following copyrighted works."

Responding to RIAA complaint, GitHub removed the repository that hosted YouTube-dl's code.

GitHub's action, however, created a furore among developers, who were quick to invent different ways to defy the ban. They created multiple copies of the repository and hosted them on places such as GitLab and GitHub.

Many legal experts also said that the RIAA had abused the DMCA mechanism to take down an entirely legitimate tool.

Freedom of the Press member Parker Higgins described Youtube-dl as "a powerful general purpose media tool that allows users to make local copies of media from a very broad range of sites."

Higgins said that many reporters use Youtube-dl to download videos of social injustice or violence from YouTube before they are removed from the site for violating the rules against the portrayal of violence.

"That versatility has secured it a place in the toolkits of many reporters, newsroom developers, and archivists," Higgins said.

In a blog post published on Monday, GitHub said that the Youtube-dl repository was being restored as the library did not violate Section 1201 of the DMCA.

The restoration of the project came after a letter from the EFF lawyers pointed out errors in RIAA's complaint.

EEF lawyers told GitHub that Google does not have any technical measures in place to prevent the download of its videos, and therefore the library cannot be removed under Section 1201 of the DMCA because it doesn't circumvent any sort of copyright protection measures in the first place.

"At GitHub, our priority is supporting open source and the developer community. And so we share developers' frustration with this takedown—especially since this project has many legitimate purposes," the company said.

GitHub also announced the decision to establish a $1 million "developer defence fund" to protect developers against unwarranted takedown claims.

The company said that it will also hire legal and technical experts to review all DMCA Section 1201 takedown claims to ensure that they are compliant with the DMCA.