RIAA demands youtube-dl be removed from GitHub. GitHub complies.
The main GitHub repository for youtube-dl (the popular, open source YouTube downloading software) has been taken offline (by GitHub) after a DMCA takedown notice.
From the youtube-dl repository (https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl) :
"Repository unavailable due to DMCA takedown.
This repository is currently disabled due to a DMCA takedown notice. We have disabled public access to the repository. The notice has been publicly posted."
The DMCA notice was sent on behalf of the RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America) and reads, in part:
"We have learned that your service is hosting the youtube-dl source code on its network at the following locations, among others"
The notice then goes on to list over a dozen forks of youtube-dl as infringing on their copyrights. The DMCA notice continues:
"The above list includes a representative sample of the youtube-dl forks of the youtube-dl source code being hosted on GitHub. Based on our review of the representative sample noted above, we have a good faith belief that most of the youtube-dl forks are infringing to the same extent as the parent repository.
The clear purpose of this source code is to (i) circumvent the technological protection measures used by authorized streaming services such as YouTube, and (ii) reproduce and distribute music videos and sound recordings owned by our member companies without authorization for such use. We note that the source code is described on GitHub as “a command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com and a few more sites.”1"
In response to this notice from the RIAA, GitHub promptly disabled the youtube-dl repository (and all known forks hosted on GitHub).
You can read the entire DMCA takedown notice here:
https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2020/10/2020-10-23-RIAA.md
