Twitch just made big changes to its DMCA ban process to help streamers

Michael Gwilliam

Twitch is making some major changes to how it alerts streamers of DMCA warnings to help them avoid bans.

DMCA issues have plagued Twitch streamers for quite some time, with some even afraid to broadcast IRL trips to the store at the risk of copyrighted music playing in the background.

While the confusion about what is and isn’t allowed remains, especially with the TV show meta, Twitch is taking steps to help streamers know when they’ve been hit with a copyright issue.

In emails sent to streamers, the Amazon-owned platform explained how it’s changing its warnings going forward.

twitch streamer destiny banned
Channels have been banned over DMCA issues.

Twitch outlines DMCA changes

Currently, when Twitch’s system detects copyrighted audio in VODs or clips it will automatically mute the VOD and delete associated clips on the channel in an attempt to reduce copyright strikes. However, it wouldn’t give information about the copyrighted material.

Going forward, when there are multiple instances of copyrighted audio, users will receive a notification and an email detailing what was copyrighted and a link to the VOD.

“Furthermore, we will update your stream settings to unpublish your VODs by default moving forward. Your unpublished VODs can be reviewed and either published or downloaded from the Video Producer page of your Creator Dashboard,” Twitch explained.

Streamers will have the option to toggle VOD settings back on and disable copyright audio warnings, however, Twitch is advising not to do this.

It will be interesting to see if these changes end up resulting in fewer bans on the platform or if the warnings are simply disregarded.