![]() In my opinion, creators have been unfairly impacted by Twitch’s poor handling of the increase in DMCA notices. Why so many? One of Twitch’s biggest issues is the fight they’ve picked with the music industry due to creators using third-party music in their streams (many creators play background music when they stream which has become a huge issue). ![]() Twitch users have recently been bombarded with thousands of DMCA notices. ![]() Why are so many Twitch users receiving DMCA notices now? And more importantly, a creator’s content has been removed for some time which is a terrible outcome for them. However, this may not prevent the reporting party from trying other means to have the content removed. In that case, the content at issue will likely be reinstated. Instead, Twitch reviews whether counter-notifications meet the requirements of their DMCA Guidelines (can be found here: DMCA Guidelines) and then processes them if they do. If a counter-notification follows the Twitch Guidelines and is processed, Twitch may remove any copyright strike(s) associated with the notification, but it’s important to note that Twitch specifically states on its website that “it is not a copyright court and isn’t in a position to approve or deny counter-notifications based on who’s right and who’s wrong between you and the rights holder”. Alternatively, a user can send Twitch a “counter-notification” to dispute a particular DMCA takedown request. For example, a Twitch user can obtain a license from the copyright holder, but this is a complicated process as a license is a legal document. There are a few ways to get content reinstated or a copyright strike removed, but each presents its own challenges and is not a guaranteed fix. Generally, without warning to the (allegedly) infringing Twitch user, once the complaint has been verified, Twitch will remove the allegedly infringing content and issue a DMCA notice to the (allegedly) infringing Twitch user. The copyright holder of the song finds out and sends Twitch a DMCA takedown notification. Here’s a common scenario: a Twitch user plays a third-party copyrighted song in the background while they stream. In order to be eligible for this protection, the platform(s) must adhere to certain rules, including investigating and taking action against allegedly infringing materials once they receive notice of the infringement from the rights holder. This means that user-generated content (UGC) sites such as YouTube and Twitch can freely operate without the threat of litigation due to infringing content being uploaded to their websites. ![]() Simply put, the DMCA is a federal law that provides protection for online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch against copyright infringement liability based on content uploaded to their platforms. First, Some Background: What is the DMCA and how do DMCA takedown notices work? Platforms such as Twitch are putting the onus on creators to comply with the DMCA without providing them with the proper tools, and those platforms are failing to find effective solutions to the bigger problem of copyright infringement one such solution would be to negotiate a deal with the music labels to license music so that creators have legal access to copyrighted music without fearing receiving the dreaded DMCA notice.
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