Youtube.

[HST.]

  Is it ok to download from Youtube if it's for my own use?  I have come accross some excellent clips of japanese Trains in HD and was thinking of making a DVD, (just for me), so I could maybe sit down with an hours worth or so and watch them on the big screen Plasma TV.  If it is ok, how do I do it, do I need anything to do it?

 

Dave.

[spacecadet]

  Is it ok to download from Youtube if it's for my own use?   I have come accross some excellent clips of japanese Trains in HD and was thinking of making a DVD, (just for me), so I could maybe sit down with an hours worth or so and watch them on the big screen Plasma TV.  If it is ok, how do I do it, do I need anything to do it?

 

This would likely fall under fair use, and anyway, nobody's ever going to know (nor come after you even if they do) if you're the only one who sees it.  I save files from YouTube all the time.  There are many browser add-ons that can do it, but I just use RealPlayer.  The latest versions of the free RealPlayer add a button to Flash videos you're viewing that allows you to download them.

 

YouTube is switching over to html5 video and that might not work, but for now the solution to that is to use a browser that does not support h.264, like Firefox (and future versions of Chrome).  Eventually YT will be using Ogg for all of its video, but for now I don't think there are many encoded that way.

[KenS]

Depending on how copyright law works where you live that may be permissible under something like a "fair use" exception. However, unless there's a download link provided by YouTube themselves, it's a clear violation of their terms of service (see section 5).

 

As spacecadet says, if it's just for your use, they're unlikely to notice (or care). But if they did, they could potentially block your access since you violated their license. It might not be legal for them to do so, but copyright law has lots of gray areas and usually the only way disputes about those get resolved is through court cases, which prevents most fair use violations by companies from being challenged.  Just one of the ways copyright law is out of step with the changing usage of the Internet age.