Download YouTube videos: legal or not?

There is software for downloading YouTube videos like sand by the sea. But many are wondering whether this approach is legal at all. We clarify it.

Wilde Beuger Solmecke - Click here for the official law firm homepage.

Download YouTube videos - a legal gray area?

• All-clear: You don't need to be afraid of being prosecuted for downloading YouTube videos.
• Private copy: By downloading a video from YouTube, you create a "private copy". From a legal point of view, these private copies are permitted if they are downloaded from a legal source. YouTube is such a legal source, since every user voluntarily uploads their videos there.
• Gray area: Many musicians usually upload their music to YouTube themselves. Then a private copy is allowed. However, if a music video is uploaded by a person who does not have the rights to do so, do not make it illegal to download it. As a user, you can assume that YouTube offers legal content without a doubt and deletes illegal content. So you are on the safe side here: Download such a piece of music, the hypothetical fault lies with YouTube and not with you.
• YouTube Terms and Conditions: YouTube's general terms and conditions state that the downloading of videos is not desired or is not permitted. If you are not logged into YouTube, you have not agreed to the terms and conditions. As a logged in user, the download is legally prohibited by the terms and conditions.
• Still, you don't have to worry. No agency in the world would bother to hunt down YouTube video downloaders. Since the videos are available free of charge, there is no financial damage for YouTube.
• Recently, however, the website Youtube-MP3.org was hit. In order to escape a multi-million dollar lawsuit from the music industry, the operators voluntarily removed the website. However, YouTube-MP3.org also explicitly advertised downloading music videos. Other YouTube downloaders are legally on the safe side.

Difference download from YouTube and sites like Kino.to

• While you are legally on the safe side when downloading YouTube clips, make yourself punishable when using sites like Kino.to or movie2k.to.
• In contrast to YouTube, the content was uploaded illegally - you cannot assume that current cinema films or TV series will be offered with the consent of the rights holder.
• When the police closed kino.to, the IP addresses were saved by numerous users of the site. This included not only uploaders, but also ordinary viewers. In theory, all of these could have been prosecuted.
• Therefore, stop downloading films whose source you can clearly identify as illegal. In this practical tip, we also present three legal alternatives to services such as kino.to.

How to rip music from YouTube clips is explained here. With the "Orbit Downloader" tool, also presented in a practical tip, you can also download videos from YouTube.