Enforced For The First Time
Content creation online has long been something of a stressful endeavor. For a while, Twitch seemed like the more user friendly option, as opposed to something like YouTube. Unfortunately, a huge wave of copyright claims is putting the lie to that assumption. It seems like the hammer is coming down at last. Twitch support posted the following message yesterday on Twitter:
This week, we’ve had a sudden influx of DMCA takedown requests for clips with background music from 2017-19. If you’re unsure about rights to audio in past streams, we advise removing those clips. We know many of you have large archives, and we’re working to make this easier.
Legal Advocate Ryan Morrison offered some advice on this subject, noting that ignoring these requests could be perilous. Streamers should take no further action without consulting professional legal advice first. Operating with a ‘business as usual’ attitude could get you sued into fiery oblivion. While these copyright laws have always been in place, it’s only now that they’re being enforced. Without some sort of sweeping legislative changes erected, more or less every Twitch streamer using game background music is completely vulnerable to legal persecution under these rules.