> make youtube-dl compliant with copyright law, namely by removing the TPM-circumventing code from youtube-dl (`YoutubeIE._decrypt_signature`)
I fail to see how this code is non-compliant with copyright law, considering it is a necessary step to complete the transaction. Is the TLS decryption code in every browser non-compliant?
There are fair use reasons to download otherwise-copyrighted videos, and you would need to run this code to do that.
See also: DeCSS
Why can't the original developers continue work on the kind of non-infringing alternative/fork that you just outlined? Are they somehow legally "tainted" and debarred from ever creating this type of code again?
Re:Youtube-dl GitHub Template
by saddlerustle on Sunday October 25, 2020 @10:30AM
(#24886554)
On that I'm just speculating, but you'd need to be able to argue that the "new" youtube-dl has a different design purpose than youtube-dl, which seems difficult to do if it's all the same people that made the previous infringing software.
The productive next step is to make youtube-dl compliant with copyright law, namely by removing the TPM-circumventing code from youtube-dl (`YoutubeIE._decrypt_signature`), and making the marketing material reflect that it's designed for non-infringing or exempted uses only. Unfortunately, you can't 'put the genie back in the bottle', so it's unlikely the original authors can continue to be contributors.
In the long term, put energy into reforming copyright law.