Is it legal to download YouTube videos?
Copyright law and platform terms are two different questions. Here's how both apply — the clear cases, the grey middle and the line not to cross.
3 min read · Updated
Here to download? Go straight to the tool.YouTube video downloaderOpen the YouTube downloaderThis is general information, not legal advice, and the details genuinely vary by country. But the broad shape is consistent enough to be useful, and most people's situations fall clearly on one side of it.
Two separate questions
The first question is copyright law, which depends on where you live. The second is the platform's terms of service — a contract you accepted by using the site. YouTube's terms don't allow downloading content unless YouTube provides a way to do it or the rights holder permits it.
Breaking a platform's terms isn't the same as breaking the law, but it isn't nothing either: platforms can restrict accounts that do it. Keep both questions in mind.
The clear cases
These are fine almost everywhere:
- Videos you made and uploaded yourself — downloading your own YouTube videos covers YouTube's own options too.
- Videos released under a Creative Commons licence. YouTube lets uploaders mark videos as CC BY, and search filters can find them — where to find Creative Commons videos shows how.
- Public-domain material and many government works, such as a large share of NASA's video.
- Videos whose creator has explicitly said you may download them.
Keeping a copy for yourself
Saving a video you could stream for free, only to watch later yourself, sits in a grey area. Some countries have private-copying exceptions; others don't. Platform terms generally still prohibit it. Official offline options — such as YouTube Premium's downloads inside the YouTube app — exist for exactly this use.
Short excerpts, commentary and teaching
Fair use in the United States, and fair dealing in the UK, Canada, Australia, India and elsewhere, can cover using a short part of a work for criticism, review, news reporting or teaching. It's judged case by case — how much you use, why, and whether it replaces the original — and it's never automatic. Cutting a short excerpt (downloading part of a video) is a different act from copying a whole film, but it isn't a free pass.
The line not to cross
Re-uploading someone else's video, selling it, putting it behind a paywall, or stripping the creator's credit is where serious legal risk lives nearly everywhere. If you'd be uncomfortable putting your name on it publicly, don't.
Music is a special case
Record labels actively enforce their rights against turning music videos into audio files, and have taken services that did it at scale to court. Buy or stream music through services that license it.
Other platforms
Instagram, Facebook and others have similar terms. Instagram offers its own download for public Reels when the creator allows it, and Loom lets video owners decide whether viewers can download. When a creator has switched downloads off, take that as their answer — and several other limits are enforced by the platform rather than left to you. If you believe a video of yours is being misused, our copyright page explains what we store and how to reach us.