Twitch informed streamers on its platform on Tuesday that it has deleted content that violates music copyright copyright laws after receiving a “sudden rush of DMCA removal requests”. In the month of June. The company sent a notice to Streamers on Tuesday. In it, the company said it would resume the “normal process of DMCA takedown notifications” on Friday. It stopped processing requests after the summer flow.
The DMCA, the Digital Millennium Copyright Copyright Act, governs how copyrighted material is used online, and protects the platform from legal action. Twitch uses a three-strike policy for its users – if you get three strikes, you’re banned.
In its warning message to users, Which went viral on Twitter this afternoon, Twitch wrote: “We are writing to let you know that your channel is subject to one or more of these DMCA takedown notifications, and identified content has been deleted. We understand that by deleting this content, we do not give you the option to file a counter-notification or withdraw from the rights hold. With that in mind, we’ve processed these instructions and are giving you a one-time warning to give you a chance to learn about copyright piracy laws and the tools available to manage content on your channel. “
Twitch Streamers, who received these notifications, have expressed concern for a number of reasons: they can’t confirm which piece of content has violated the rules (or continue to do so) and don’t want to be banned, And They are reluctant to let go of old stuff without their involvement.
He is insane Twitch Partners have deleted their content – and there is more content in violation despite an identity system to find out if it is. Their purpose in DMCA is for creators to delete the work of their lives. This is pure, complete negligence. pic.twitter.com/mhdXU5lEc5
– Devin (Davinanesh) 20 October October 2020
Given the rotation of the notice, it seems A lot Twitch streamers were violated. Twitch does not allow its users to submit counterclaims or withdraw claims, instead of simply deleting content. Instead of a strike, the company calls this a “one-time warning.” On Friday, rumors were circulating that Twitch would resume normal procedures – including a strike against accounts that infringed copyright. However, getting a tweet from a Twitch support account complicates this; After email, Twitch Support tweeted “Proceed, clips known as copyrighted music will be removed without penalty, to ensure that you do not receive DMCA notifications from the right holders.” We have reached out to Twitch for clarification.
Twitch also told users that they have infringing content left on their channels, and encouraged people to review all videos and clips for unlicensed content. “If you are unclear about the contents of your archive, you can delete all of them,” Twitch wrote. Twitch has the tools to download clips individually and delete mass, but there’s nothing that allows users to easily archive the totality of their work.
Justin Ignacio, founder of Twitch, who is no longer with the company, tweeted some third-party tools on Tuesday to speed up the process.
A Twitch spokesperson made the following statement to Polygon:
We are incredibly proud of the service that Twitch has become for so many artists and songwriters, especially during this challenging time. It is important that we protect the rights of songwriters, artists and other music industry partners. We continue to develop tools and resources for further educating our creators and empowering them with more control over their content, while partnering with industry-recognized vendors in the creat pirate space to help achieve these goals.
On Monday, Twitch’s new soundtrack by Twitch feature became available to all users. This tool is part of Twitch’s response to its music copyright piracy issue; The soundtrack by Twitch curates music that is safe to stream worldwide. The company will host a “live learning session” on Wednesday where it will answer questions about Twitch’s community guidelines.
