Downloading a video should be “fair use” as recording a song from the radio
The problem is that whether or not downloading a YouTube video <i>can</i> be fair use, the RIAA is alleging that youtube-dl is a copy protection circumvention tool. 17 USC 1201(a)(2) does not care about your fair use, it only cares about keeping copying tools off the market.<p>To bring this back into the home recording of radio, it&#x27;d be as if Congress decided to ban the sale of tape decks that could record radio transmissions[0]. That ban would work regardless of fair use.<p>This is why Section 1201(a)(2) needs to be struct from the law, BTW - your access to copying tools should not evaporate because of a lack of ability to enforce copyright on you.<p>[0] How this ban is actually implemented is immaterial, but perhaps radios can&#x27;t have detachable speakers or audio out ports to hook a tape deck into, or tape decks have to only have an integral speaker and no audio in ports. This wouldn&#x27;t stop home recording of radio but it&#x27;d be significantly worse.