The latest round of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns on Twitch was devastating for many streamers — big and small. Twitch streamers had to delete their entire library of VODs (recordings of past streams) and stream clips to avoid receiving a strike on their channel for using copyright material. If they received just three strikes, Twitch would remove their channel off the platform permanently. So far, Twitch has experienced two waves of strikes (one in May 2020 and another one in October 2020). Twitch now is warning streamers another wave of DMCA strikes are coming.
In an email sent last Friday, Twitch warned it received more takedown notices from music publishers. It seems Twitch is trying to warn streamers ahead of time before it sends out strikes. In the past, the takedowns were sudden for Twitch streamers, resulting in a lot of panic and anxiety. However, a heads-up may not be good enough for most streamers. And, as one might expect, the Twitch community doesn’t seem happy with Twitch and its DMCA.
What did Twitch say in the DMCA warning?
In the email Twitch sent out to its streamers, the platform said, “We are committed to being more transparent with you about DMCA. We recently received a batch of DMCA takedown notifications with about 1,000 individual claims from music publishers.” Twitch went on to say it is “actively” speaking with music labels to work out a solution that’ll hopefully work for both creators and right holders. Still, Twitch recommended the streamers remove any content flagged for containing copyrighted material.
“For your remaining VODs, we recommend you use the ‘unpublish all’ feature and review any content for unauthorized music or other copyrighted material,” Twitch wrote in the email.
Twitch needs to fix this now
We hope Twitch can find a solution with the music industry. The takedowns are not only hurting Twitch’s reputation, but it is hurting the streamers and their livelihood. Streamers already have had to delete thousands of hours of content over the past year due to DMCA takedowns, and that number is only going to keep growing. Twitch needs to find a solution now to salvage any respect its creators have for the platform. However, it unfortunately doesn’t look like Twitch is closing to making a deal with the music industry any time soon.