Something to download all videos as mp4 from entire youtube channel?

i wanna download entire youtube channels for offline viewing in internetless places.

Requires some reading and poking around, but once you figure out what’s going on, is the superior solution.

The requirement for downloading as mp4 makes a semi-complicated thing possibly more so. It’s actually best to get VP9 packed in an MKV if possible. The formats available to download vary with the video and time (VP9 is generally available a week or two after the video is posted). mp4 is usually available though.

You can probably find a command line argument that suits you through google.

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Or just use straight youtube-dl

If you don’t care quite as much about keeping the original file in all cases, you can just do -f mp4, and if .mp4 is not available it will transcode it to that with FFmpeg (could be misremembering).

I generally like to keep a archive of downloaded video ids with --download-archive filename.txt

And you may want to change the name format, there are tons of options, but I often use something like this:
-o "%(title)s - %(uploader)s.%(ext)s"

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Or…https://www.youtube.com/premium

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legally you cant. unless its your uploads and in that case youtube has an option to zip them and download them in the original format.

but for other peoples channels, that’s classed as copyright theft.
if you use a script to do it your hacking youtube, again illegal.
and yes its actually hacking.

at mods?.. terms and conditions?
as its 1 thing to discuss exploits and there mitigation, its another to promote there use.

Is it though? Using public API’s that require no authentication is “hacking?” If that’s the case then I guess I should be hauled straight to jail for using 3rd party Twitter and Reddit clients!

Now it may be against the terms and conditions of the site to use an automated tool to archive their videos off-site, but hacking? Nah fam.

It should be no issue with videos licensed under creative commons.

Even if you torrent a movie, you are not stealing the copyright of the owner. The original owner still owns the copyright even if someone redistributes a movie to every person on the planet.

Youtube-dl is using the same public endpoints that your browser uses. So, no it’s not, since it is accessing publicly available endpoints, not private/internal things.

scraping the api isnt the same as downloading the content the api points to.

the twitter bots are using the sites own allowed functionality. not the same thing.
and while they are not illegal they are monitored and killed when they do try to do something twitter doesn’t like. if you try to use the same bot again twitter will use legal means to keep your app off there platform, typically with some data protection law.

the script is the hack. as your bypassing restrictions to gain access to data you do not have permission to have. no ifs no buts.
so yes fam sorry…

@TheCakeIsNaOH creative commons has some very specific allowed uses.
but doesnt cover obtaining the content in the first place.
so doesnt apply to the act of downloading it from the web.

you are infringing on there copyrighted content if you do not have permission to share it on torrents.
you cant steel copyright, true. but you can steel copyrighted content. its all about given permissions from the copyright holder.
again no ifs no buts.

end point access has nothing to do with it mate sorry. its how you use the endpoint that matters.
abusing the endpoint in a way that is unintended/disallowed is called an exploit.

again its about permissions. if you are allowed to download the file by the site, you do so via the means they allow it.
if there is no means to allow it, you can assume its not allowed. and then go look at terms and conditions to see if its specifically disallowed.
you will likely find a section telling you not to and that copyright law will apply.

if you run a script that bypasses that restriction then your changing the site to do something other than intended and thats the hack bit.
there is no download button offered and you add one?.
that’s a breach of T&C and technically, by using a hacked exploit. :wink:

there is a reason they are obfuscating all the code. they don’t want you exploiting it.
and they certainly dont want you using publicly available exploits to do it.

Downloading != Torrenting.

With torrenting you are also redistributing the file you are downloading.

breach of T&C != being illegal

have you ever read any terms and conditions?
they are a legal binding contract for the most part.
you agree to the terms they set out when you click accept.
if you then breach the terms you are in legal breach of that agreement and that could see other charges levelled depending on said breach of terms.

downloading = downloading. if done without permission is an illegal download.

uploading that illegal download via torrents or to a share site. your now guilty of illegal file sharing.

this is why the likes of piratebay and limewire went away. sure you can still find em. but most western isp’s block them at the dns level by default. and how did they manage to legally block them. they used copyright infringments by illegal file sharers.

Occasionally

Isn’t there case law that says that ignorance of Terms and Conditions means that you’re not bound by them? Additionally, it was declared that just because something is in terms and conditions, doesn’t mean it’s enforceable. IIRC, Apple had a “we reserve the right to take a kidney” clause in the iTunes T&C…

That’s not even true. Pretty sure piratebay is one big honeypot right now, but it’s still up.

Here you go again, conflating downloading with torrenting.

When you download and save a video to your computer from youtube, youtube sees the same exact function being performed when you watch a video in the browser or on the app. (well, not 100% sure on the app, but absolutely on the browser)

Youtube can call it a violation all they want, but the fact of the matter is that the reason they haven’t locked it down is that they are unable to distinguish between programs like youtube-dl and legitimate users.

Moreover, here you go talking about file “sharing”

OP is not asking about sharing anything, OP is asking about downloading for personal use.

Blockquote Isn’t there case law that says that ignorance of Terms and Conditions means that you’re not bound by them?

ignorance is no defence in the uk and eu. and im not sure thats it case law in every state in america.

here though there are laws that protect both sides from silly things like the kidney agreement.
such as giving up your human rights of free expression when you click accept.

but if they specifically say do not download or you will be in breach of copyright, and you break that agreement. you broke the copyright agreement at the same time.
so while you can breach the t and c’s with the most happening you cant use the site any more.
the copyright breach is something that can get you in trouble with the law.

Blockquote That’s not even true. Pretty sure piratebay is one big honeypot right now, but it’s still up.

you can still find them but you cant reach them unless YOU bypass the dns block and yes its true, they got blocked on copyrights grounds.
they got blocked in the eu, the uk and canada along with some others. all under copyright infringement.
and yeah there are honeypots for mpaa and dmca aswell as nsa and cia and other law enforcement have access to the apis that are listed as pirate bay proxies.

nope not complaining about downloading with torrents. assume much?
if your sharing your own legally owned content. torrents are a great way to share.
you want to distribute some data fast without bogging down your site… torrents are a way to go.
so no mate im a fan of torrents.
but they are used for the most part now and for as long as i can remember as illegal file shares.

Blockquote OP is not asking about sharing anything, OP is asking about downloading for personal use.

downloading for personal use of files he doesn’t have permission to download. he wants to download from some one else channel not his own.

Youtube can call it a violation all they want, but the fact of the matter is that the reason they haven’t locked it down is that they are unable to distinguish between programs like youtube-dl and legitimate users.

just because they cant stop it doesnt mean they want you doing it.

It’s worth keeping in mind I don’t believe there are any lawyers here?

Downloading information isn’t as clear cut as people may like.

Theres several things to consider.

Youtubes Terms and conditions
the license of the video
copyright
fair use
and what courts have done in the past

Youtubes terms and conditions are a civil issue, not a criminal issue, breaking them isnt illegal. but breaking them is a break of a contract. @SgtAwesomesauce might also be right in this : (someone would need to check)

the licensing of the videos may allow for downloading them, YouTube though i believe only has two license options, youtubes and CC. the latter allowing certain forms of copying.

fair use as i understand it seems to generally apply when using a copyrighted work in another work. Im not sure it would apply for personal offline viewing.

copyright is where this issue stands i believe. Generally the wording of the license does not allow you to copy the media regardless of use.

However, what courts have decided seems to override that straight letter of the license copyright issue. In terms of fair use courts have sided with the person using clips of someone else’s video (fair use), but to obtain those clips the person has to have downloaded the copyrighted video in the first place, a clear violation of copyright.

There’s very likely other examples of this as well.

My non lawyer view… it may be a violation of copyright is certain jurisdictions if you’re downloading videos for personal use, but you’re probably going to have to take it to court to find out the answer.

They have a special license for vevo. There are special considerations for downloading vevo videos in youtube-dl, which is what the whole stink was raised about a few months back.

We have a clear case of someone in the UK downloading someone elses content, and then using that content in a video (sargon), and they were never done for copyright violation from downloading the video. In fact they won their case.

Copyright isnt clear cut, yes people need to do their due diligence. But its not as simple a case as saying downloading youtube videos is illegal.

Just so there’s a clear answer for this.

Discussing methods to make copies of copyrighted material for the purpose of redistribution to third parties isn’t allowed.

Similarly we don’t generally allow the sharing of copyrighted material which is outside of the authors intended means. this included things like grayware (which comes up every now and then)

Similarly we generally allow the discussion of methods and use of tools which can be used for nefarious purpose, hacking etc.

Discussing options for downloading in part or in full media for the intention of personal use, including options to transform that media into other formats so long as it is only for personal use, and not for re-distribution, and not as a means to circumvent any deliberate restrictions the author placed on the media is allowed. But people should be aware that the laws of their land may not allow this, or may not have made a decision on this issue.

tl;dr: the discussion of using tools are allowed within those confines, as well as the discussion of legal issues surrounding it

@TheVault gave the most legally protected answer

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thanks that clears up the question i actually asked :smiley: … …

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Go for the paid version. It’s good software.

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