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GitHub Threatens To Ban Users Who Bypass YouTube-dl Takedown

GitHub has issued a warning that accounts could be banned if they continue to upload content that was removed due to DMCA takedown notices.

On October 23rd, 2020, GitHub removed the source code repositories for the popular video download tool called YouTube-dl after the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. (RIAA) filed a DMCA infringement notice.

This takedown was controversial, as the notice was not issued because YouTube-dl contained copyrighted material or source code, but because it allowed users to download copyrighted content.

Since then, angry users have been waging war against GitHub by creating new repositories containing the YouTube-dl source code.

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Some of these uploads have been done in creative ways to taunt GitHub, such as exploiting a bug that allows users to attach commits to GitHub repositories they don’t control. One of these newly created commits containing the YouTube-dl source code was attached to GitHub’s DMCA repository.

Uploading removed repos can lead to bans

As first reported by TorrentFreak, GitHub’s legal directory Jesse Geraci updated the DMCA repository’s README.md file last week to state that uploading banned content could lead to your account being banned.

“Please note that re-posting the exact same content that was the subject of a takedown notice without following the proper process (outlined below) is a violation of GitHub’s DMCA Policy and Terms of Service. If you commit or post content to this repository that violates our Terms of Service, we will delete that content and may suspend access to your account as well,” GitHub’s new DMCA README.md now reads.

This message does not specifically state YouTube-dl is the reason for the warning, but the timing coincides with GitHub’s battle to remove new YouTube-dl repositories after its takedown.

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As activists, journalists, and education commonly use YouTube-dl to archive free and public domain videos, GitHub CEO Nat Friedman has been actively trying to help reinstate the repository.

Friedman went as far as to log into YouTube-dl’s IRC channel to offer suggestions on how to get reinstated, such as removing the ‘cipher circumvention code’ and examples on how to download copyrighted material.

While this is commendable, this whole mess could have been avoided in the first place if GitHub did not act upon a DMCA infringement notice that had nothing to do with the use of copyrighted material.