Is downloading videos legal?

This is a genuinely nuanced area and the honest answer is not a simple yes or no. What follows is general information to help you think it through, not legal advice — rules differ substantially between countries, and if something matters commercially you should ask a lawyer in your own jurisdiction.

Three separate rulebooks

People tend to collapse these into one question, which is where the confusion starts. They are independent, and something can be fine under one and a problem under another.

• Copyright law governs who may copy and distribute a work. It is national law, and it varies.
• Platform terms of service are a private contract between you and YouTube, Instagram and so on. Breaking them is not usually a crime, but it can get your account restricted.
• Fair use, fair dealing and private-copying exceptions carve out limited situations — commentary, criticism, education, personal backups — and their scope differs a lot by country.

Situations that are generally uncontroversial

• Downloading a video you uploaded yourself.
• Content published under a Creative Commons licence that permits reuse — check which one, since some forbid commercial use or modification.
• Public-domain material, including most works old enough for copyright to have expired.
• Content where the rights holder has given you explicit permission.
• In many countries, a personal-use copy of something you already have lawful access to — though this varies and several countries do not recognise it.

Situations that are clearly a problem

• Re-uploading someone else's video to your own account or channel.
• Using downloaded footage in monetised content without a licence or a genuine fair-use basis.
• Redistributing films, TV or music you did not create.
• Circumventing paid access — subscription content, rentals, anything behind a paywall.

Where platform terms sit

Most large platforms' terms restrict downloading outside their own app or offline feature. That is a contract term, not criminal law, and the usual consequence of breaking it is action against your account rather than anything more serious. It is still a real consideration and worth knowing about rather than pretending otherwise.

Our position

This is a general-purpose tool with substantial legitimate uses: creators retrieving their own uploads, journalists preserving public statements, researchers archiving openly-licensed material, and people saving something to watch on a flight.

We do not host any of it — files stream from the platform straight to you, and nothing is stored on our side. What you download and what you do with it afterwards is your responsibility, and we ask you to respect the people who made it.