Tip: Downloading YouTube Videos

Let me start this post off by saying one thing very clearly - there is only ONE way to legally download YouTube videos from YouTube without infringing on copyright - YouTube Premium. ANY other means of downloading a YouTube video not only violates the YouTube Terms of Service - it is also an infringement of the video owner copyrights. That said, if you search “How to download YouTube videos” you will find millions of results. You’ll even find thousands of tutorial videos on YouTube. One interesting thing to keep in mind though if you do that - Google owns YouTube. When you Google how to download videos from YouTube - don’t you think Google might know your account information and your search history? Just saying.

So before I go any further, the first thing you need to ask yourself before you start figuring out how to download YouTube videos is WHY you want to in the first place. There are only a handful of situations where you might need to - most center around not having internet access when you need to view them, or maybe your school district still blocks YouTube (insane IMHO). Maybe you want to embed a video into a PowerPoint presentation or website. The single best way to get YouTube videos off of YouTube and into your teaching materials is using the many options that YouTube already provides for free: linking and embedding, and with their paid service, downloading.

So if you are going to ignore the warning and just start downloading YouTube videos, almost EVERY Google search result leads to a click bait site. What’s a click bait site? You’ve definitely seen them. They typically have LOTS of flashing ads and fake red download buttons - meaning you have to install a freeware program on your computer. I avoid these sites like the plague because it is VERY easy to download something that you really don’t want on your computer, like malware or a virus. Some options, like the beloved Zamzar and the original KeepVid (which is no longer active) have actually stopped allowing users to use their service to download videos. That’s because they know that it is copyright infringement, and Google/YouTube has a very active legal department. I highly advise against using any website that claims to allow you to download YouTube videos by downloading their software - period. They are almost all scams - seriously.

If you absolutely have to have access to a YouTube video offline, then you can either upgrade your YouTube account to YouTube Premium (which is $11.99/month), though you do get a free 30-day trial OR you can use any screen capture software program. Screen capture software will definitely work, but the results are pretty bad - especially when it comes to sound quality. Know that if you do use screen capture software, you are infringing on the copyright of the video owner. Fair use doesn’t protect ANYONE from making an illegal copy of the source material - that is a common misunderstanding. It’s not the USE of the materials that’s the problem, it’s HOW you got it.

Linking to and embedding YouTube videos into any other document is VERY simple to do and is 100% legal. If you click on the Share button under any YouTube video, you’ll get this screen:

If you want to link to a YouTube video either click on the Copy button, or highlight the URL in your browser window and copy that. If you want to embed the video in a website or presentation, click the <Embed> button. You’ll see this screen when you do:

Just copy the Embed code on the right hand side and then use the Embed button in whatever software program you are using to create your website or presentation and paste that embed code into it. That’s all you need to do.

I don’t subscribe to YouTube Premium, so I am not 100% sure whether or not you can actually download your own copy of a YouTube video OR if your video is only available in an offline version of YouTube, and once your subscription lapses you lose access to those videos. The latter is likely the case.

I stopped downloading YouTube videos a long time ago. I now embed them every time I want to show a video in a presentation or even in a blog post! It’s legal, it’s easy, you save your hard drive space, you comply with YouTube’s Terms of Service, and you’re doing the right thing in front of your students.