Streamers Will Face Ban If They Don't Comply With Twitch Rules

Twitch streamers are facing a serious problem right now that is causing their content to be deleted and accounts banned. But, the problem is not what you expect.

Streamers are getting hit with DMCA takedown notices. DMCA is a 1998 copyright law that stands for the digital millennium copyright act. Its main purpose is to prevent free distribution and use of copyrighted material.

That’s why you can’t do things like give away copies of your favorite movie or play the latest hit song on your stream. This is the main reason so many people are experiencing the DMCA notice on Twitch.

The Type of People On Twitch

There are many different types of people who broadcast on Twitch. You have teenagers, young adults, middle-aged, and even elderly people. They are sisters, brothers, mothers, dads, cousins, friends, etc. The majority of those people are like you and me. They are not aware of copyright and how it works.

Put Yourself In Their Shoes

You might be an artist that creates beautiful fan art of game characters for fun. You post your creations on social media and people love it. So, you start your own store selling posters and artwork of your favorite game characters. You spend your time creating hundreds of products and the sales won’t stop rolling in. One day, a DMCA rolls in. Your store gets taken down for copyright infringement along with a monetary fine.

You are shocked. How can they take down my store? I created everything myself. I didn’t take anyone’s designs or ideas and claim them as my own. But, you did. You took the game developer’s character, something you didn’t create, altered it, and redistributed it for profit. This is copyright. Illegal. You need permission to do this. Like you need permission to play someone’s song on your broadcast.

You can’t play music that isn’t yours on your stream, even if you are not making money from it. Music companies are strict with their content. If you didn't create the song yourself or receive permission, don't play it.

If you want to play music, there are things called royalty free songs. When something says royalty free, the creator of that content lets you use it for whatever you like. Meaning you can play it on your stream. But, you need to double check the creator’s guidelines. Some require you to credit them when you use their stuff. If you don’t you will get hit with a DMCA take-down notice.

The Music Case has a great collection of songs you can use without any copyright claims. Plus, the licenses are valid forever, meaning 30 years from now, you can still use the song.

What Needs To Change

As of now, there isn’t any etiquette on the internet when it comes to copyright. There needs to be some sort of guide or an Intro-to-Copyright course people can take. It won’t take much for content platforms like Twitch or Youtube to inform their users of copyright laws. Of course, they can say it’s the individual’s responsibility to know these things and that’s 100% true. But, in case they don’t, I would have them go through a mini-course before letting them stream or post content on the platform. So any copyright infringement on their part would be 100% their fault.

Twitch’s Response

Twitch’s response to the DMCA claims is not helping the situation either. Twitch is doing its responsibility of taking down videos that are copyrighted but their lack of transparency is making things worse. Here is a video of a streamer who is dealing with these issues. Click Here to watch.

This person is not someone who is aware of copyright laws among other things. He is just an average person like you and me. Twitch is not telling him which specific video is being claimed for copyright. Because of this, he won’t be able to file a countersuit if it turns out the video doesn’t have copyrighted material.

Apparently, there are streamers whose content got taken down by Twitch for no reason, or so they claim. The problem with this is the streamer has a right to counter the copyright claim. But if Twitch is removing videos without permission, there is nothing they can do but accept.

Conclusion

The problem with copyright is that the average person doesn’t know about it or, at least, doesn’t understand it enough; which shows by the number of videos being removed and accounts that are getting banned on Twitch. But, that doesn’t take away responsibility from the streamers. The problem is that there isn’t enough awareness and the solution is to educate.