Twitch streamers have had some headaches in recent days. Now the company has confirmed a “sudden influx” of DMCA takedown requests against streamers for allegedly violating music copyright in clips captured by viewers between 2017 and 2019. As each request potentially represents a strike against an account, this raises the threat of permanent bans for users who might get three strikes with little warning.
Twitch is recommending that broadcasters delete any affected clips. But, it’s a very slow process. You can only delete a handful at any time, and popular streamers may have thousands of clips to sort through. So that’s an issue. Twitch said it was working to “make this [process] easier,”.
These copyright requests create other problems on top of the threat of sudden bans. It puts the livelihoods of some streamers at risk, especially those who play music games like Just Dance or Beat Saber. Will they have to constantly police their clips? But why are users allowed to create problem clips in the first place? Streamers who just want background music have approved options, but others may have to dramatically alter their behavior they thought was legal in the first place. It is a tough spot to be in for streamers.
Source Engadget