Twitch reveals changes they’re looking to make after wave of DMCA music claims

Twitch have revealed that they’re trying to talk with a number of music labels after a wave of DMCA claims have come in against streamers, with some dating back a few years. 

For the longest time, many Twitch streamers were happy enough to stream themselves playing games and use music in the background, and they’d rarely ever get in trouble for doing so.

In recent years and months, using copyrighted music on stream has become a pretty big issue, with DMCA claims coming in against streamers big and small – with some claims dating back many years.

The rise in DMCA claims has led many streamers to delete their VODs and clips shortly after they finish streaming for the day, which prevents some fans from catching up with things. Now, after another wave of claims, Twitch have dropped an update.

In an email sent out to Twitch users, both streamers and viewers alike, the Amazon-owned platform stated that they’d received a batch of DMCA takedown requests with around “1,000 individual claims” from different music publishers.

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Twitch noted that they believed these claims were being made by automated systems, which means further claims probably aren’t too far away, so if streamers have picked one strike, they might be in line for another.

“We are actively speaking with music labels about solutions that could work for creators as well as right holders,” Twitch said. “This is our first such contact from the publishing industry (there can be several owners for a single piece of music), and we are disappointed they decided to send takedowns when we are willing and ready to speak to them about solutions.”

As for avoiding strikes in the short term, Twitch noted that VODs with copyrighted music in should be removed, but they’re also working on “educating” creators on what they can and can’t use.

“These conversations (with music publishers) are active and ongoing, and we continue to work with them to establish potential approaches that would be appropriate for the Twitch service and our entire community,” they added.

The Amazon-owned platform confirmed that when an additional update is available, they’ll dish it out to users. For now, though, DMCA still looms large.