In the earlier days of online file sharing, requests from the RIAA to remove copyrighted material were frequently issued – I personally received several. However, this practice has largely diminished as identifying individuals engaged in piracy has become increasingly challenging. Despite this, the RIAA retains the ability to send formal complaints – directed at the developers of software that could be utilized for copyright infringement, such as programs designed to download videos from YouTube.

Recently, a widely used tool favored by many programmers, YouTube-DL, was temporarily taken down from GitHub following a notice from the RIAA, as reported by Parker Higgins of the Freedom of the Press Foundation earlier today.

This represents a different type of takedown request than those commonly seen in the early 2000s. Those earlier notices were the numerous DMCA requests stating “your website is hosting copyrighted material, please remove it.” While these requests still occur, much of the process has become automated, with platforms like YouTube proactively removing infringing videos before they are even made public.

In this instance, the RIAA has requested the removal of YouTube-DL based on a violation of Section 1201 of U.S. copyright law, which essentially prohibits the circumvention of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies. The law states, “No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.”

Consequently, it is considered unlawful not only to distribute unauthorized copies of copyrighted works, such as a pirated Blu-ray disc, but also to bypass the protective measures implemented to prevent duplication.

Extending this reasoning leads to the inclusion of tools like YouTube-DL, a command-line program that accepts a YouTube URL and directs the user to the underlying video and audio files, which are stored on a server. By obtaining the location of the file normally streamed through the YouTube web player, a user can download a video for offline viewing or preservation.

Consider the scenario where someone uses this tool to download the official music video for Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off.” The RIAA views this as a case of piracy, and argues that because YouTube-DL enables this activity, it should be removed.

As is often the case, it is easy to identify comparable situations that the RIAA has previously abandoned pursuing. For example, could a screen and audio recording utility achieve the same outcome? What about a video camera? Or even a cassette recorder? All of these can be used to create an offline copy of a copyrighted work, bypassing the DRM implemented by the rights holder.

Predictably, this takedown will likely have minimal impact on the software’s availability, as it has likely already been downloaded and replicated countless times. Furthermore, numerous other websites and applications offer similar functionality – and the RIAA may, based on the reasoning presented in their notice, pursue action against them as well.

The RIAA is, of course, obligated to protect against copyright infringement, and it is reasonable to expect them to address the practice of individuals using automated tools to acquire high-quality copies of an artist’s complete catalog. However, targeting the fundamental tools themselves echoes the outdated argument that “home taping is killing the music industry,” a claim that has not gained widespread acceptance. Moreover, if addressing the widespread unauthorized use of artists’ work is the goal, the RIAA might first consider addressing issues within the streaming services they support, which often provide minimal compensation to artists. (Supporting artists directly through platforms like Bandcamp is a viable alternative.)

Tools such as YouTube-DL, much like cassette tapes, cameras, and other technologies, possess the potential for both lawful and unlawful use. Fair use principles permit the use of these tools for legitimate purposes, such as archiving content that may be removed from platforms like Google, or allowing individuals to maintain a local copy of freely available media for personal use.

YouTube and similar platforms, acting in good faith, implement measures to deter obvious and large-scale copyright infringement. While a direct “download” button is absent from the latest popular songs, links to purchase the music are readily available, and even using a legitimately purchased copy as background audio in a user-created video may be prohibited by the platform.

The temporary removal of YouTube-DL’s code from GitHub represents a reactive and ultimately ineffective response to a problem that likely constitutes a negligible factor in the broader context of copyright infringement. The RIAA likely loses more revenue to account sharing. The software, or a similar iteration, will inevitably reappear, potentially with improvements, further complicating the RIAA’s efforts, and the cycle will continue.

Perhaps the developers of the “Whack-a-Mole” game will consider legal action against the RIAA for infringement on their original concept.