If you heard about the shutdown of Convert2mp3 in 2019, you might be asking yourself whether YouTube to MP3 converters are legal. In general, under US copyright law, it’s illegal to make copies of copyrighted material. However, many videos on YouTube aren’t copyrighted. So while downloading videos that contain copyrighted material isn’t legal, downloading videos that aren’t copyrighted is perfectly legal in the US.
Bear in mind, though, that copyright laws differ from country to country. If you’re traveling internationally and have YouTube songs downloaded onto your hard drive, phone, or any other device, this could lead to problems. And in Japan, for example, it’s even illegal to stream videos on YouTube that violate copyright. You should always be conscious of the relevant laws in the countries you’re traveling to.
Also note that although it’s not illegal to download uncopyrighted material from YouTube, it does violate YouTube’s terms and conditions, which each user agrees to when they create an account.