Twitch streamers see 'sudden influx' of copyright takedown requests for old clips
Some of the flagged clips are from 2017.
- She received the Renau Writing Scholarship in 2016 from the University of Louisville's communication department.
Twitch streamers are being flooded with takedown requests by the DMCA.
A number of Twitch streamers have received Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown requests for alleged music copyright violations in videos posted between 2017 and 2019. Each notice works like a strike against a streamer's account. Three strikes and the channel could be banned from the Amazon-owned gaming streaming site.
Early Monday morning, Twitch Support tweeted a thread about the takedown requests, advising streamers who are unsure about rights to audio in past streams to remove those clips. The post acknowledged that many streamers have large archives, and the site is working on a way to make the removal process easier. The thread included links to Twitch's music guidelines and the DMCA.
"This is the first time we have received mass DMCA claims against clips. We understand this has been stressful for affected creators and are working on solutions, including examining how we can give you more control over your clips," Twitch Support's thread said.
The trouble is that streamers on Twitch are getting little warning before being issued a strike for old clips. In addition, the decision to flag content doesn't come from Twitch, but the platform is legally obligated to react to DMCA takedowns, according to report from the Evening Standard on Monday.
Twitch told CNET it didn't have anything further to add beyond the Twitch Support tweet.
📢 This week, we've had a sudden influx of DMCA takedown requests for clips with background music from 2017-19. If you’re unsure about rights to audio in past streams, we advise removing those clips. We know many of you have large archives, and we're working to make this easier.
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) June 8, 2020