YouTube is the largest and most used video platform in the world, and is one of the most popular services to listen to streaming music, hence the company has been encouraged to launch YouTube Music to encourage users to pay for benefits In the consumption of YouTube music, however, many people prefer to download the videos and convert them into MP3 to listen to music on their cell phone, which leads us to question whether this is not illegal.
Many users have asked us if downloading videos from YouTube is illegal, either to listen to music, or to keep the video on their computers and play it without an Internet connection, and the answer is a blunt and clear YES.
It is illegal to download YouTube videos, although it often depends on the laws of your country, however, for Google , downloading videos from the platform is prohibited, which is why the company does not offer a tool to do so, in addition that on several occasions he has threatened to sue the sites that offer the possibility of downloading videos from the platform.
Remember that Google wants its content creators feel safe when uploading their content to YouTube, so it is the responsibility of the company to protect the intellectual property of the ‘Youtubers’, artists and all the people who upload their videos to the platform.
For this reason the only legal way to “download” a YouTube video to watch it without an Internet connection or use it to listen to music is paying for YouTube Music or YouTube Premium, because the video is protected, and YouTube also gives you permission to keep it on your device
Even with this, it is also prohibited to share the content downloaded by YouTube Premium users. So, if the users who pay for a subscription are prohibited from sharing the downloaded content, then those who do it from third-party websites and use it to profit from them are committing an illegal act.
It is true that many people download the videos for their own use, that is, they do not obtain any economic benefit from them, for example, to enjoy the content without an Internet connection, to use it for educational purposes, or for entertainment, well, even with this this activity is illegal, because the only person who can download a video is the same owner of the content.
Then, if you require a copy of the content, you must obtain the permission of the creator of its creator or owner so as not to be committing a crime, since this is established by the copyright protection, which prohibits the total or partial reproduction of the protected content.
However, many users download YouTube videos daily for all kinds of reasons, and most do not have any kind of legal problem for that, but this does not mean that you will not have them at any time, so everything you do will be under your responsibility.