If you are interested in my views on copyright infringement, you might find this comment useful (commenting on ad blockers).

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11422763

It probably makes sense for me to formulate the argument properly and write it up at some point.

In this particular instance - I'm not sure that the amount paid is relevant - the desires of the publishers would be, which doesn't necessarily include payment (otherwise no-one would publish under GPL). It's potentially a violation of the ToS of YouTube - I wouldn't know, I use a commandline tool which bypasses the web interface entirely.

Sorry Google! I'm sure you'll do OK. (Do you have a donation address? :P)