ytdl-org/youtube-dl · error · ExtractorError

This video is not available from your country.

Error message

This video is not available from your country.

What it means

Raised by MTV's _extract_video_formats when the mediagen XML rendition source URL ends in error_country_block.swf, geoblock.mp4, or copyright_error.flv. It signals a geographic or copyright block; the extractor first tries the mobile template fallback, and only if that is unavailable does it raise this expected error.

Source

Thrown at youtube_dl/extractor/mtv.py:77

        # Otherwise we get a webpage that would execute some javascript
        req.add_header('User-Agent', 'curl/7')
        webpage = self._download_webpage(req, mtvn_id,
                                         'Downloading mobile page')
        metrics_url = unescapeHTML(self._search_regex(r'<a href="(http://metrics.+?)"', webpage, 'url'))
        req = HEADRequest(metrics_url)
        response = self._request_webpage(req, mtvn_id, 'Resolving url')
        url = response.geturl()
        # Transform the url to get the best quality:
        url = re.sub(r'.+pxE=mp4', 'http://mtvnmobile.vo.llnwd.net/kip0/_pxn=0+_pxK=18639+_pxE=mp4', url, 1)
        return [{'url': url, 'ext': 'mp4'}]

    def _extract_video_formats(self, mdoc, mtvn_id, video_id):
        if re.match(r'.*/(error_country_block\.swf|geoblock\.mp4|copyright_error\.flv(?:\?geo\b.+?)?)$', mdoc.find('.//src').text) is not None:
            if mtvn_id is not None and self._MOBILE_TEMPLATE is not None:
                self.to_screen('The normal version is not available from your '
                               'country, trying with the mobile version')
                return self._extract_mobile_video_formats(mtvn_id)
            raise ExtractorError('This video is not available from your country.',
                                 expected=True)

        formats = []
        for rendition in mdoc.findall('.//rendition'):
            if rendition.get('method') == 'hls':
                hls_url = rendition.find('./src').text
                formats.extend(self._extract_m3u8_formats(
                    hls_url, video_id, ext='mp4', entry_protocol='m3u8_native',
                    m3u8_id='hls', fatal=False))
            else:
                # fms
                try:
                    _, _, ext = rendition.attrib['type'].partition('/')
                    rtmp_video_url = rendition.find('./src').text
                    if 'error_not_available.swf' in rtmp_video_url:
                        raise ExtractorError(
                            '%s said: video is not available' % self.IE_NAME,
                            expected=True)

View on GitHub (pinned to 956b8c5855)

Solutions

  1. Retry with a proxy/VPN in an allowed region: --proxy <url> (or --geo-verify-proxy to auto-find one).
  2. If the block is copyright_error (not geo), the content is withdrawn — obtain it from the rights holder's official channel.
  3. Update youtube-dl; newer builds may have better mobile-template fallbacks for the specific sub-site.

Example fix

# before
youtube-dl https://www.cc.com/video/...

# after
youtube-dl --geo-verify-proxy https://www.cc.com/video/...
Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Try / catch

except ExtractorError as e:
    if 'not available from your country' in str(e):
        retry_with_proxy(url, region='US')  # mobile fallback already failed
    else:
        raise

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Extracting an MTV/paramount network video whose mediagen doc's <src> matches the geoblock/copyright error pattern, when the specific subclass has no _MOBILE_TEMPLATE or mtvn_id fallback available.

Common situations: Downloading Comedy Central / MTV / Nickelodeon clips from outside the US; content withdrawn for copyright reasons; corporate networks egressed through foreign IPs triggering geo detection.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of ytdl-org/youtube-dl@956b8c5855 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1e34dea8aed830c8. Report an issue: GitHub.