The golden rule
Downloading for yourself is usually fine. Re-sharing someone else's work as your own is not.
Generally acceptable
- Saving your own videos and photos
- Offline viewing for personal use (a tutorial, a recipe video, a lecture)
- Content the creator has explicitly marked as free to reuse
- Content under Creative Commons or public domain
Generally NOT acceptable
- Re-uploading someone else's video to your own channel/account
- Using downloaded content in ads, products or anything commercial
- Removing an original quality to hide the original creator's identity
Fair use (briefly)
Some countries allow limited use for criticism, education, commentary or parody. Fair use rules differ by country — when in doubt, ask the creator or get permission.
Creators: protect your work
If your content is being misused, see our DMCA page — we act on valid requests fast.