Several Twitch streamers face an influx of DMCA claims from 2019

Daily DMCA Takedowns Affecting Twitch Streamers

Twitch streamers are facing daily inconveniences due to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedowns. Recently, a wave of takedowns has impacted several prominent streamers on the platform.

Unrelated Songs Removed from Clips

Although there is no apparent correlation between the targeted songs, the clips affected by the takedown wave mostly date back to 2019.

Several Twitch streamers face an influx of DMCA claims from 2019

I’ve been issued 2 copyright strikes on my channel (both from clips over a year old) in the past week and told that if they find one more violation in my clips, my twitch account will be permabanned. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/y8pft3spdq
— fuslie (@fuslie) June 7, 2020

Streamers Face Threat of Suspension

Streamers like Jakenbakelive and Fuslie, among others, have been dealing with DMCA takedowns in recent days. Although the clips have been removed, anyone receiving an email regarding the takedowns has been threatened with a 24-hour suspension. So far, it seems that this only applies to live content and not clip DMCA infractions.

Some of the targeted songs in these clips include “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande, “In Da Club” by 50 Cent, and “Staying Alive” by Bee Gees. While other clips have also been removed, these songs have had a significant impact on the more prominent streamers.

Any other streamers get hit with some copyright stuff recently? The heckkkkkkk we supposed to do?
I can’t go through 100,000 clips and delete anything that has some music in it.
Scary.
If things continue this way doesn’t that mean 90% of the streamers on Twitch are donezo? pic.twitter.com/ZXywc9PznV
— Jake’n’Bake @ LA (@jakenbakeLIVE) June 7, 2020

Streamers’ Attempts at Mitigation

Some streamers have taken measures to combat these takedowns, such as deleting clips that may contain copyrighted music or mass deleting their clip archives.

This may not be as significant an issue for smaller streamers who can easily curate their clips or delete any videos that could lead to DMCA claims. However, for streamers like Jakenbakelive with over 100,000 clips, it is nearly impossible to manage such a level of curation.

The Twitch back-end system does not load clips from over a year ago, making manual work much harder, if not unmanageable. Some claims are even affecting clips as far back as 2017.

I’m willing to do anything to keep my channel, even if it means deleting all my clips and memories from the past years. I feel so helpless right now. I’ve built this channel up for 5 years and to potentially lose it all so fast to something like this would be devastating. (3/4)
— fuslie (@fuslie) June 7, 2020

Potential Impact on Music Usage

Similar to the copyright system on YouTube, it seems that streamers who use copyrighted music, which would typically lead to portions of the stream VOD being muted, will now face additional consequences. If DMCA claims result in takedowns of clips over six months old, it suggests the implementation of a new copyright system that could significantly impact music usage on streams in the future.

Bigger streamers may need to create playlists featuring copyright-free music or obtain the rights to the content they wish to use on their stream to address this new clip issue. They cannot control what their audience clips, and if DMCA takedowns continue, their channels could face additional claims.