Is it legal to record music from YouTube?

The former version of the answer posted here (by Homework Doer) is

"Technically it would be considered illegal. You are taking something and not paying for it which is what is known as stealing which is illegal."

This is probably a good answer from an advice standpoint, but it is way oversimplified.

The first "best answer" is that most Music Videos and movie clips on YouTube are posted by users in violation of copyright law. Only the owner of the copyright has the right to authorize its posting on YouTube. So if you copy anything illegal, your copy is also illegal.

Is what Freecorder does illegal? No. Freecorder simply captures the signal to your computer's output ports and stores the file in an appropriate format. Nothing illegal about that… so long as what is outputted to your port is something that you have the right to copy…. And that's where it gets tricky.

The music industry would have you believe that copying a song or video is illegal and that you must buy it. The truth here (as of December 2010, and that could change soon) is that DOWNLOADING or distributing music files and not paying for them is piracy.

When you record a streaming video from your computer's output port, you get into a legal gray area. Since the days of vinyl records and tape, an individual has had the right to make a single copy of a recording that they already purchased for personal listening only. This allowed people to take songs from various albums and make tapes that were compilations of favorite songs.

As the music industry went digital and songs could be downloaded individually, the product sold became individual recordings, not "albums" so the protection format required changing. Producers and artists have fought hard to make the copying or downloading of any copyrighted material, in any form, illegal if a royalty is not paid. Remember, this is how many people make their living. Not just the singer. The musicians and producers may also be receiving royalties for their part in a recording.

As for YouTube, the poster of any content holds the copyright for any material that is original or for which they have secured the rights in that content; and all other material belongs to the original copyright holder.

SO… THE BEST ANSWER IS:

"No, you cannot legally copy any copyrighted material that is on YouTube just because your software's function is legal. If you didn't legally post it on YouTube yourself, you don't own the copyright to it and someone else does. Copying that content without paying the rights holder to do so is 'piracy' and is illegal."