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Twitch today apologized to users for the way it handled a copyright crackdown last month, but the site still told streamers that they will have to stop using recordings protected by copyright to avoid further takedown notices. Twitch – the popular game streaming site acquired by Amazon for $ 970 million in 2014 – has been forced to take more aggressive copyright action by record companies. But Twitch’s mismanagement of the crackdown has left users in a state of confusion over which videos violate copyright and how users can comply with the rules without simply deleting all of their past videos.
In a blog post published today, Twitch said that users are wondering how they can stream “without having to worry about getting the DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] music usage notifications. The answer is that users should stop using the music stored on their streams if they don’t own the copyright and remove old videos that contain copyrighted music.
Twitch explained:
Most importantly, do not play music saved in your stream unless you own all rights to the music or have permission from the necessary rights holder (s). This is the best protection for your feeds in the future. If you are not sure if you own all the rights, it is very likely that you do not. If you want to include recorded music in your stream, use a fully licensed alternative such as Twitch’s Soundtrack, or other cleared music libraries such as Soundstripe, Monstercat Gold, Chillhop, Epidemic Sound, and NCS.
Twitch said that 99% of the copyright notifications it recently received from record companies “were about tracks that streamers were playing in the background of their stream.” But that doesn’t mean that the music in the game is completely safe to use.
“While we haven’t received more than a handful of DMCA notifications targeting in-game music, if you play games that contain recorded music, we recommend that you review their end user license agreements (this wall of text at the start of a game) to see how the terms cover streaming with that music, ”Twitch said.“ One way to do this is to look up the official EULA for an online game and then perform a ctrl + search f (Command + f on Mac) for words like “stream”, “license” and “music” to direct you to the correct sections. If you are unsure of the rights, some games allow you to mute the music while streaming, or you can mute the game yourself. ”
While this covers future feeds, Twitch users still need to be concerned about their previous videos. “For your stream archives (VOD and clips), at the moment your only option, if you think they contain unauthorized music, is to browse them one by one or, for clips, to use the ‘delete all tool’ that we provided, ‘Twitch wrote. “We understand that both of these options have drawbacks, and we are working to bring more and better options to you as soon as possible.”
A puzzling repression
Twitch’s copyright crackdown took place about three weeks ago. As we wrote at the time, Twitch surprised users by sending a slew of copyright takedown emails that “not only didn’t tell streamers what allegedly infringing content they had. posted, but … also stated that Twitch had simply removed content without giving users an opportunity to appeal. “
Twitch said in today’s blog that it needs to impose a crackdown due to a gigantic increase in record label copyright notices:
Until May of this year, streamers were receiving less than 50 music-related DMCA notifications each year on Twitch. Starting in May, however, representatives of major record companies began sending out thousands of DMCA notifications every week targeting creator archives, mostly snippets from clips that were several years old. We keep getting big batches of notifications and we don’t expect it to slow down.
As CNN reported in August, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) issued more than 1,800 copyright notices to Twitch users in June alone, after posting just 710 such notices since 2017.
Mistakes have been made
In the blog post, Twitch admitted to making several mistakes and promised to provide a better system for users in the future. Warning emails sent to users “did not include all of the information you would typically get in a DMCA notification,” making it difficult to “make an informed decision on whether to submit a dispute notification or request a retraction, ”Twitch said.
Twitch said it also didn’t give users enough time to respond to notifications and that the tools it provided were inadequate:
One of the mistakes we made was not creating adequate tools to allow creators to manage their own VOD and Clip libraries. You’re rightly upset that the only option we provided was a mass delete tool for clips and that we only gave you three days notice to use this tool. We could have developed more sophisticated and user-friendly tools some time ago. What we haven’t done is on us. And we could have provided creators with a longer period to approach their VOD and music video libraries – that was also a failure. We are very sorry for these mistakes and we will do better.
Twitch has promised to “expand the use of technology to detect copyrighted audio” and give users “more granular ways to manage your archives instead of a simple” delete all “option. “,” but the site did not specify how long it will take.
Other future changes will include “mak[ing] it’s easier for you to control what audio from your live streams will appear in your recorded content. Twitch has stated that it will ensure that it provides the necessary details to users when they receive DMCA notifications, in particular “information about copyrighted work allegedly infringed, who is the requester and how can be contacted. Twitch also promised to provide better tools for filing “dispute notifications if you believe you have a right to use the content.”
Twitch could also negotiate a new licensing deal with the record companies, but a global deal doesn’t seem likely.
“We are actively discussing with the major record companies on potential additional licensing approaches that would be appropriate for the Twitch service,” Twitch wrote. “That said, the current license constructs that record companies have with other services (which typically take a cut in creators’ income to pay them to record companies) make less sense to Twitch. The vast majority of our creators did not record the music as part of their streams, and the revenue implications for the creators of such a deal are considerable. “
Twitch has also provided an FAQ on DMCA and copyright issues, and has set up a user forum to discuss the topic.
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