youtube-dl is a popular project that allows users to download videos from youtube.com and other video platforms. The tool is distributed in a variety of methods including a direct download on the website, package managers of multiple Linux distributions, homebrew, and so on. However, in this instance, the unavailability occured at the development repository.
GitHub, where the repository was and is hosted, received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) about the tool being a circumvention method to accessing copyrighted works. At first, GitHub reinstated the repository after a patch was applied to remove some tests that accessed copyrighted YouTube videos. Further, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) submitted a reversal letter that showed that youtube-dl does not, in fact, violate the DMCA based on how it works. In their statement, they also mentioned that using a few seconds of a video to test the tool falls under fair use.
- youtube-dl: https://yt-dl.org/, archived at https://archive.md/6HSWb
- youtube-dl repository: https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl, archived at https://archive.md/mv3nj
- GitHub statement on the youtube-dl situation: https://github.blog/2020-11-16-standing-up-for-developers-youtube-dl-is-back/, archived at https://archive.md/lOQH1
- EFF letter to GitHub regarding DMCA reversal: https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2020/11/2020-11-16-RIAA-reversal-effletter.pdf, archived at https://archive.md/RH9bx
- EFF statement: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/github-reinstates-youtube-dl-after-riaas-abuse-dmca, archived at https://archive.md/XX7fH