Kick makes subtle change after Pirate Software points out major category issue

Kick has made a change to one of its categories after prominent streamer Pirate Software pointed out a problem with the website that keeps him from broadcasting there.

In an October live stream, Twitch’s Hype Train record-breaker, Pirate Software, explained why he doesn’t multi-stream on Kick.

Aside from ongoing moderation issues on the platform, he argued that Kick seemingly allows wanton streaming of copyrighted content, referring to its ‘Other, Watch Party’ category, which was previously titled, ‘Other, TV Shows & Movies.’

He navigated to this category during his broadcast, which showed dozens of users streaming copyrighted materials like television shows, anime series, and more.

“As a platform, if someone is streaming copyrighted content on your platform, you get a DMCA claim and you take it down,” he said. “…but if you make a category called ‘Other, TV Shows & Movies,’ you’re incentivizing the behavior on your platform.”

While the category’s name was later changed after Pirate Software’s alleged conversation with Kick co-founder Trainwreck, the URL remained the same, and it also showed up as ‘Other, TV Shows & Movies’ on search results.

Dexerto got in touch with Kick to hear their side of the story, who informed us that the URL “was not intentional on KICK’s part.” It has since been fixed to reflect the category’s current name as of October 4, 2024. On top of that, when one goes to the old category, it now shows up as a 404 error.

Additionally, Kick referred us to its DMCA Policy and Terms of Service, which outlines users’ rights to their own content and intellectual property rights.

In their TOS, Kick states it “takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Content that you or any other User or third-party posts, sends, or otherwise makes available over the Service.”

Kick also writes that streamers “shall be solely responsible for your User Content and the consequences of posting, publishing it, sharing it, or otherwise making it available on the Service,” and says they are only “acting as a passive conduit for your online distribution and publication of your User Content.”