> I think it's unauthorized copying, which is copyright infringement. I don't see how this argument would actually hold up for youtube-dl (whereas I do see how

> I think it's unauthorized copying, which is copyright infringement. I don't see how this argument would actually hold up for youtube-dl (whereas I do see how it would hold up for a third-party website like youtube-mp3). In youtube-dl, the process goes like this: 1. User connects to website, requests copy of video. 2. Website agrees and serves copy of video. 3. User makes private use of copy of video, e.g. saves it to disk. In this circumstance the user isn't doing any copying or distributing of copies, they're just making use of the copy they're given. It's exactly like recording a TV show playing over the air. (Note the difference to a website like youtube-mp3, in which there is a step where youtube-mp3 makes a copy of the data they received and distributes it to the user.)