this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2026
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It cannot.
technically it can, but not for free. if you have a subscription to access the media, the site is supported and drm-free, and you have a way to pass the account credentials to yt-dlp, it will download. if it plays inside a browser with drm disabled, yt-dlp can likely get it for you. you could download stuff from crunchyroll that way before they added drm. if it does have drm, you can still download the encrypted stream and decrypt it later with something like gpac if you have the keys, but that's a bit besides the point.
however there's very little supported sites now that have paid subscriptions and no drm. and in neither case is yt-dlp circumventing anything, it cannot access something you had no access to in the first place.
Even free streaming services like Tubi often use DRM for large portions of their library. So in turn nearly every paid streaming service also uses DRM.
Then it's not piracy.
It's not piracy anyway even if that worked as the owner isn't being deprived of what they own.
That's not what piracy is, though. That's why piracy isn't theft.
Piracy is an act of robbery on the high seas.
Robbery is larceny from the person or presence of another by violence or threat.
Larceny is the unlawful taking of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it permanently.
In this context, we are referring to the "Copyright or patent infringement" definition, which is not theft.
That's not directed at you specifically.
Is that the government?
Media mostly.
So, yes