YouTube Video Downloader Site 'Yout' Convicted by Brazilian Court

JAKARTA - A judge at the São Paulo Criminal Court has found John Nader, the founder of the Yout download site, guilty. The judge's ruling stated that Yout violated the Brazilian Copyright Law (UU).

Yout is considered a piracy tool that can circumvent security on video platforms such as YouTube. According to Judge Eva Lobo Chaib Dias Jorge, launching from Android Authority, this ability harms copyright holders illegally.

With the verdict of guilty, John Nader will be fined. The court has not announced the amount, but Nader is estimated to have to pay a fine of around 55,000 US dollars or around Rp. 992 million.

This is a provisional calculation of the losses incurred during the operation of the service in the Brazilian region. The court stated that Nader must be subject to Brazilian law even though he is an American citizen.

The reason is that the service is widely accessed by Brazilian citizens. Activities from the Yout application are considered to be within the jurisdiction of local laws that regulate service providers.

It is known that this case has been going on for years. The case was first held in 2021. Previously, Nader had rejected an agreement to pay a larger fine to stop the criminal charges.

In his defense, Yout's lawyer compared their service to DVR or digital video recorder technology. They referred to the principle of reasonable use for personal interests, as decided in one of the legal cases in the US.

However, this argument failed to convince judges in Brazil. Currently, access to the Yout site has also been blocked by various internet service providers throughout Brazil.

There has been no response from YouTube regarding this decision. However, Nader is expected to appeal the ruling to defend his business operations.