If I understand it’s not overtly about copyright but about anti-DRM. The YT download tools necessarily have to break YT’s DRM which is per se illegal in the US.

If I understand it’s not overtly about copyright but about anti-DRM. The YT download tools necessarily have to break YT’s DRM which is per se illegal in the US. VCRs save unencrypted inputs, they don’t break any DRM. Now, breaking DRM is not illegal all over the world. So the YT download tools could decide to base themselves in jurisdictions where breaking DRM is legal, this is why you can download VLC which is French. That wouldn’t help with their Google listings however, as Google is American.