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Music Media

Twitch Users Protest Its DMCA Policy By Streaming Videos With Homemade Sound Effects (polygon.com) 126

Wednesday Twitch warned its users to delete any videos containing copyrighted music. PC Gamer reports on what happened next: Since October, Twitch has been deleting significant quantities of videos over copyright claims, leaving the affected streamers with no way to respond or issue counter-claims. Twitch eventually explained that the number of DMCA notifications it receives from major record labels has surged, going from "fewer than 50" each year to "thousands" beginning in May. The recommendation offered to streamers was to play games with the music muted, which obviously isn't great advice when it comes to rhythm games, or games that don't have the option to mute music separately from other audio. Meanwhile, some streamers have had videos muted due to sound effects, with claims coming via automated content recognition software Audible Magic. These claims can be contested, but it's still frustrating for those affected by content ID software that can't tell the difference between copyrighted audio and the noise of a grandfather clock chiming in a horror game.

In response, streamers have been protesting by playing games with the sound off completely to highlight the absurdity of the situation, some using the hashtag #DMCAsoundoff. Watching Rocksmith players grunt or silently nod along to songs nobody can hear highlights the problem while still entertaining their viewers, as does hearing them improvise their own the sound effects for games like Resident Evil 2.

Polygon argues it's "alarming that these are the lengths players are going to in order to try and protest Twitch's policy..." But they also applauded the creativity of the protesters It's a surprising look at the transformative nature of streaming. When players are forced to play in dead silence, people still tune in and watch. Even while complying with copyright law to the absolute letter, each stream is different, and each act of protest feels wholly unique.

Twitch recently posted a long statement in response to the controversy, writing: "Your frustration and confusion with recent music-related copyright issues is completely justified. Things can — and should — be better for creators than they have been recently. We should have developed more sophisticated and user-friendly tools long ago. To all the creators who lost their community's best moments, we're sorry. This shouldn't have happened."

Despite the statement, Twitch has yet to provide concrete solutions for the ongoing problem, and the platform has yet to address the issue of in-game audio triggering the DMCA process (besides a suggestion to mute in-game audio.)

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Twitch Users Protest Its DMCA Policy By Streaming Videos With Homemade Sound Effects

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  • Just leave (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AndyKron ( 937105 ) on Sunday November 15, 2020 @04:40AM (#60726286)
    Why are people still using this? Just leave. You can do that, you know. I've never twitched and don't feel any worse for it.
    • Anyone still using it obviously thinks it's still worth using, despite all that has happened. Once the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, people will leave. Until then, Twitch has room to screw anyone they want and keep saying that it shouldn't have happened but offer no compensation of course.

      • There are plenty of problems with other websites that make the move to another platform hard, but one of the biggest issues is Twitch Prime.
        Let's say that Timmy's mom has Amazon Prime because she likes buying things from Amazon. On Twitch, Timmy's account will have a "free" Twitch Prime subscription that he can give to any streamer he likes and receive the benefits of subscribing, while the streamer gets paid out of Amazon's pocket without having to ask Timmy to shell out real money out of his own pocket.
        T
        • Obviously Twitch prime benefits offset all the crap Twitter is putting them through, for both Timmy and the streamer. If that wasn't the case, Timmy wouldn't be able to find any streamers to give the "free" Twitch Prime to, and/or Timmy wouldn't bother doing it. Only time will tell how much abuse Timmy and the streamer are willing to take in exchange for Twitch Prime.

      • by Anonymous Coward

        Overbearing copy protection laws will follow them wherever they go. The corporate bought one sided law isn't just confined to one platform.

        Our disapproval shouldn't be directed at one platform. It should be directed at our corporate bought politicians and the mainstream media for keeping most people ignorant about this issue.

        Stop blaming the platform. Blame the legal system.

      • I tried streaming a couple times, had metal music at low volume in the background, at some point I stopped talking over it for over 30 seconds, and after finishing my session Twitch notified me that due to copyright infringement the whole session was muted.
        That was the last time I attempted to stream on Twitch. it was a matter of principle. If they ding me for playing music in the background at 10% volume to fill up awkward silence, then their service sucks and I won't use it. I'm not even using their servi

    • That wont actually solve the problem of DMCA abuse, and systemic disregard for fair use.

      Eventually, it will be a silent video of a censorbar covered screen, with text asserting "No really, I really am playing MedalOfCallOfDutySpecialOpsAssasinsCreed12, honest!"

      Because the DMCA lawyer hounds will have claimed any use of images or sounds from the title, making streaming impossible any other way, and will assert that this is just fine and dandy.

      The protests are not because twitch has decided to jump the shark-

      • "Shut up and consume!"
        - Corporate America

      • by Cederic ( 9623 )

        It's the music that's being flagged as infringing copyright, not the games themselves.

        Some games offer a ''Streaming Mode' audio option that removes any music not licenced by the game's producers for streaming by its players.

        If game publishers start DMCAing the games themselves then Twitch dies. So far they've recognised and welcomed the tremendous marketing and publicity they get through streaming, and that it's a constructive part of the gaming ecosystem.

        • Does not matter; If I rob a house, and the owner does not prosecute or inform the police, it is still theft.

          Likewise, the law here has been interpreted and upheld that the streaming is not a transformative use--- which is why the audio cannot be used. Likewise, the images used in the gameplay footage itself, would be getting used in a non-transformative manner (as found by the audio inquiries prior), and would be infringing. The studios just choose (oh how benevolent of them!), not to press the issue. (fo

          • by Cederic ( 9623 )

            You miss my point.

            You said that the 'DMCA lawyer hounds' will prevent sharing of visual elements of a game. That is not happening (for 99.9% of games).

            Even if it did, several games explicitly state "You may stream this game online".

            "Makes the studio money" is not a part of the calculus.

            It absolutely is. PUBG was commercially viable only because of game streamers building a market and making people want to play it.

            There'll always be low marketing budget games like that, and because of it, there'll always be games getting streamed. So there are market pressures o

        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          It's not likely the game publishers will DMCA the games. They're not braindead like the music industry; they *pay* streamers to advertise their games for them.

          The music industry should be looking at Twitch as a source of free advertising as well.

    • Re:Just leave (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Kisai ( 213879 ) on Sunday November 15, 2020 @06:43AM (#60726492)

      There are no other options, including "make your own" since these streaming sites rely on cloud hosting (which would be subject to the same DMCA's) and advertising revenue (which won't advertise on infringing material)

      There are three correct ways to go:
      a) The recording industry get's it's head out of it's butt and have Twitch licensed in the same way youtube and facebook are licensed for things like karaoke, covers and video games as long as the streamer has selected the game correctly.

      b) Twitch/Amazon releases a plugin for OBS that integrates Amazon Music (Prime) on a "non-baked audio channel" that can be cut from the VOD unless the person watching the VOD has a Amazon (or other software) that has the music played at that cue point. This already exists, but almost nobody is aware of it, and doesn't appear to support creating playlists of music any more than "Soundtrack by Twitch" does. Really just allow anyone streaming to select which channels are muxed into the stream and which channels are muxed into the VOD and that would solve the primary problem in what to delete/mute.

      c) Twitch/Amazon allows twitch streamers to explicitly license music on-demand. Start playing the track on the "music track" in B above, have Audible Magic ID the song, and check for a license. If there's no license, mute it until a license is acquired, and tease the license holder that "X many users tried to play/listen to your music but you haven't yet arranged a license with (streamer)", Likewise, anyone who has a license to the song (eg in amazon music, itunes, spotify, etc) in any shape, will have their media player plugged into twitch automatically play if they have the streamer set to "automatically control my music"

      • by Cederic ( 9623 )

        You forgot option d) Don't play someone else's music.

        Really, it's not hard. You know the music cartels are cunts so stop putting yourself at risk of censure while actually promoting them.

        • by tepples ( 727027 )

          You forgot option d) Don't play someone else's music.

          What do you mean by this? For example, do you mean make your own game and play it instead of playing notable games on stream?

          • by Cederic ( 9623 )

            I mean turn the fucking music off. Am I going insane or something? Doesn't anybody ever actually look at the fucking sound options in games?

            • Re:Just leave (Score:4, Insightful)

              by tepples ( 727027 ) <tepples.gmail@com> on Sunday November 15, 2020 @12:13PM (#60727174) Homepage Journal

              I mean turn the fucking music off.

              First, how is a stream of Dance Dance Revolution or Amplitude or Guitar Hero enjoyable with the music off? Second, many video games offer no sound options to turn off the music while continuing to play sound effects.

              • by Cederic ( 9623 )

                If you want to stream DDR or Guitar Hero then you _know_ you're going to be broadcasting someone else's music. Plan ahead and get the licences or stream on Youtube where there's a sitewide agreement in place.

                many video games offer no sound options to turn off the music while continuing to play sound effects

                Maybe as many as one in thirty and the ones that don't let you disable music almost always have custom composed music that they can easily licence for streaming.

                Can't disable or licence the music? Mod it out. Delete the music files. Or just stream a different game.

                99% of game streams do not need to infr

                • or stream on Youtube where there's a sitewide agreement in place.

                  How would someone switching from Twitch to YouTube go about first getting at least 1,000 subscribers, which YouTube requires for streaming from mobile [google.com]?

                  Can't disable or licence the music? Mod it out. Delete the music files.

                  Easier said than done on console.

                  Or just stream a different game.

                  I doubt that games under a free software and free cultural works license alone would bring in enough of an audience to keep Twitch a going concern.

                  • by Cederic ( 9623 )

                    So come up with your own solutions. I've made multiple suggestions but no, you don't want any solutions, you want problems.

                    How to stream from mobile? Just fucking stream to your PC and use that to stream onto Youtube.
                    How do disable music on console? Turn the fucking music off.
                    Stream a different game? There are thousands of games you can stream without music, pick one of them. Another dozen get released every single fucking day so you're hardly restricted in choice.

                    Keep Twitch a going concern? Like I give a

                    • by tepples ( 727027 )

                      fucking

                      I was in a bad mood at the time. I apologize. It's just I have numerous axes to grind about the artificial costs that the platforms impose on their users.

                      There are dozen alternatives available

                      With Mixer shutting down for good, which other streaming platform is worth recommending?

                    • by Cederic ( 9623 )

                      I have numerous axes to grind about the artificial costs that the platforms impose on their users.

                      That's understandable and not something I'm going to argue with at all.

                      I personally hate that I have 1200 videos on Youtube monetised by the music cartels because of incidental music within them, overridign the copyright and performance rights of myself and the people in them.

                      At the same time, it's the "least bad" option available to me due to shitty copyright laws. I'm making my views known about the laws but I can't fight billion dollar media companies.

                      Other streaming platforms? I couldn't recommend one,

        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Doesn't help. The music industry auto-DMCAs anything its software even suspects is music. You can defend yourself, sure, but it's like trying to defend yourself from spam by using the court system.

      • music licensing sucks bars with pinball games have been sued / told you need to pay jukebox fees to have games that have music in them. and no the rights payed for in the game do not cover YOUR SITE that needs it's own fee paided for.

    • I've never twitched and don't feel any worse for it

      I find your message inspiring. Maybe you could start a community for people who don't ever do anything.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      There isn't an alternative.

      Twitch is a job for these people. They make their living from Twitch donations, subscription revenue and ad revenue. So they need to be where the viewers are and where the social connections are.

      Big streamers have tried and they always end up coming back.

    • I've never twitched and don't feel any worse for it.

      So you don't seem to realise that people make money from this and that for some it's an entire livelihood?

      Maybe you should look into Twitch a bit more and understand it, then you'll no longer wonder why people "don't just leave".

      • So you don't seem to realise that people make money from this and that for some it's an entire livelihood?

        Maybe you should look into Twitch a bit more and understand it, then you'll no longer wonder why people "don't just leave".

        It's the old story of "How much shit you will accept is how much shit you'll have to take."

        • I suppose you've never heard of unions or industrial action. The best option isn't always to walk away whenever everything in your life doesn't run exactly the way you want.

          Change from the inside is possible, especially when people depend on you.

          • I suppose you've never heard of unions or industrial action. The best option isn't always to walk away whenever everything in your life doesn't run exactly the way you want.

            Change from the inside is possible, especially when people depend on you.

            I suppose I have. You've just shown a portion of how much shit you'll put up with.

            Now between you and me, if a person is using copyrighted music, even snippets, they need to get permission, and if they are performing this as a business, pay the man for other people's music.

            Have a business plan should be thing one, and with modern algorithms, you can generate your own music, and copyright it as your own. Problem pretty much solved.

            • Now between you and me, if a person is using copyrighted music, even snippets, they need to get permission, and if they are performing this as a business, pay the man for other people's music.

              Yep so when some streamer's clock goes off in the background and it's matched to Pink Floyd's - Time I guess fuck the streamer right?

              Maybe you should put some more effort into understanding what's going on, understanding what is and isn't a legitimate copyright complaint, and understand why Twitch users do what they do.

              Problem pretty much solved.

              I'm glad you solved a problem these people aren't having.

              • Now between you and me, if a person is using copyrighted music, even snippets, they need to get permission, and if they are performing this as a business, pay the man for other people's music.

                Yep so when some streamer's clock goes off in the background and it's matched to Pink Floyd's - Time I guess fuck the streamer right?

                Maybe you should put some more effort into understanding what's going on, understanding what is and isn't a legitimate copyright complaint, and understand why Twitch users do what they do.

                Well now, that's an interesting one. If one clock is flagged the same as a whole shop full of different clocks, then the algorithm is messed up. This sounds like a great chance to mess with the system.

                Problem pretty much solved.

                I'm glad you solved a problem these people aren't having.

                So you are complaining about clocks being dinged as a pink Floyd song, then claim no one is having a problem? Are we just arguing fo rthe sake of arguing?

    • Yep, i don't understand protesting by continuing to give the company money. A mass exit of streamers seems more effective at getting amazon to make changes.

      • by fazig ( 2909523 )
        A lot of people don't do this just for fun. It's their livelihood.

        Now you might argue that putting all their eggs in this particular basket wasn't the smartest choice to make, and I would agree. But still, that's where a lot of them are. And if their rainy-day-fund doesn't have proper padding, having your income disrupted can get cause some serious other issues.

        Maybe they could use a streamer union which will offer strike pay :).
        • If people want to build on a shaky foundation (You can't tell me they not once thought about the copyright concerns of streaming) that's honestly their problem. If their business model is no longer sustainable they need to find a new one. This type of 'career' was doomed to fail from the start.

    • I don't use it either and never will, but I think this is about more than just the surface issue, I think it's also about 'fair use', which I thought still existed as a concept, but apparently the RIAA unilaterally doesn't think exists anymore. These people are not putting music on this 'Twitch' platform so that people can 'pirate' it, it's incidental and as such should be covered as 'fair use'. The RIAA is a bunch of greedy bastards and would tax you for having a 'copyrighted' song stuck in your head if th
  • by BlacKSacrificE ( 1089327 ) on Sunday November 15, 2020 @04:47AM (#60726294)

    They are no longer producing content with copyright material in it. I hardly see how this is a protest when they are doing as they were asked. Protesting would be every streamer including copyright content so the platform became so overburdened with DCMA requests that an alternative reporting/licensing solution would have to be found (or, the sudden drop off in traffic caused Twitch to work a solution)

    Whatever justification works in their minds I guess.

    • by wierd_w ( 1375923 ) on Sunday November 15, 2020 @04:55AM (#60726318)

      That is incorrect, the images of the stream video itself are copyrighted.

      The transformative nature of the stream is a fair use, but then again, that would apply to the audio as well. Since it does not apply to audio, according to studio lawyers, it must not apply to graphical elements either.

      So, still in violation, because there is still copyrighted content in the stream.

      Stop drinking the koolaid kids, The DMCA is a bad law.

      • by BlacKSacrificE ( 1089327 ) on Sunday November 15, 2020 @04:58AM (#60726324)

        Information wants to be free. I am in no way for the DCMA system, nor the blunt, indiscriminate instruments that are wielded in it's name. I'm simply saying that protest is typically an action designed to force an outcome. Playing in silence or making stupid noise instead of playing music is not forcing anyone's hand. It is simply complying with the request to stop producing works with copyright material therein. And it's a stupid, ineffective reaction.

        • It would be more effective to name-and-shame each individual studio holding the copyrights being claimed upon, urge the viewers never to buy from them again, and point them towards an alternative source of music from someone who realises the internet is a thing now.

        • by Xenx ( 2211586 )
          Protesting only requires you to say or do something expressing your disapproval. They're complying, but doing so in a way that draws attention to the fact that they all but have to comply. Not complying potentially means not getting paid, which is something not everyone can afford.
      • by Entrope ( 68843 )

        Simply claiming that streaming is a transformative use, and thus fair use, does not make it so. For example, cable companies pay significant license fees to "stream" content to their subscribers. That is straight up copying and distribution, not transformative use.

        "Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work." - U. S. Copyright Office

        • I didn't realize streaming live play was a substitute for possession of a copy of the game itself. But I guess I'm just an out of touch old who doesn't twitch.
          • by Entrope ( 68843 )

            The people who hold the copyrights for the games are not the ones filing takedown requests. The people who hold the copyrights for the music in the games are, and both the player and the watcher listen to the music.

            • Yes and it's ridiculous to argue that anyone is out there queuing up twitch streams instead of listening to Spotify et al.. Streaming live game play *is not* a substitute for people who would otherwise obtain the music through the labels preferred methods.
              • by Entrope ( 68843 )

                That is also a false comparison. In the cases where the music labels have valid reason to complain, substantial portions of songs they control are set to video game gameplay, cutscenes or other graphics sequences. They licensed their music to the video game creator for that purpose, and if that license did not authorize streaming by end users, a streamer violates copyright by reproducing the music set to the video game graphics.

          • I didn't realize streaming live play was a substitute for possession of a copy of the game itself.

            You may have missed a March 2016 story about people watching walkthrough videos instead of buying a license of a game. See "That Dragon, Cancer 'has not yet seen a single dollar from sales'" by Jeffrey Matulef [eurogamer.net], citing "On Let's Plays" by Ryan Green [thatdragoncancer.com].

            The developer suggested that the reasons sales were so low was because many folks chose to watch Let's Play videos of the two-hour game rather than purchase it. "We underestimated how many people would be satisfied with only watching the game instead of playing i

    • So do you want a mass-ban of Twitchers or do you instead want an incomplete experience to be delivered to the users?
      • by Cederic ( 9623 )

        An incomplete experience?

        It's a recording of someone else playing a game. It's already incomplete. If the music is that integral to the game play then the developer will have commissioned it and be able to licence it for streaming anyway.

        But sure, mass ban Twitch streamers. The world won't notice. The UN security council won't declare a state of emergency. The titty streamers will have to get a proper job.

        • You forgot to tell them to get off your lawn.

          What you say about Twitch streamers, though, can be said of a high percentage of people's jobs, including anything in entertainment. I mean, you're entitled to your opinion on the value of twitch streaming (its probably not that far off my opinion) but that doesn't change the fact that for some people its a livelihood.

          • by Cederic ( 9623 )

            I have less sympathy for the Twitch streamers that do it for a living.

            If they want to make money off someone else's music then absolutely they should pay for it.

    • I hardly see how this is a protest when they are doing as they were asked.

      There's complying and then there's complying in protest. Complying would be to substitute copyrighted content with non copyrighted content. Complying in protest would be to do this substitute in a way that negatively effects Twitch's image as a platform, such as mute the stream making viewers wonder wtf is going on.

      It's kind of like when my boss complained that I arrived to work 5 minutes late. Complying would be to say "sorry sir" and make sure it never happens again. Complying in protest was me cutting hi

  • by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Sunday November 15, 2020 @05:00AM (#60726330) Homepage

    You'd think some classical music in the background while getting your headshots on would be kind of retro-hipster, or something.

    As a side note, copyright is way too damn long. The original length was 14 years. That's plenty of time to release an album, tour, do a whole bunch of hookers & drugs (genre permitting, obviously), and still have time to work on the next one before your money runs out.

    • You can thank Sonny Bono, and the Mickey Mouse Protection Act for that.
    • by Anonymous Coward

      You'd think some classical music in the background while getting your headshots on would be kind of retro-hipster, or something.

      It doesn't always work. I produced a series of videos with public domain classical music on YouTube. 2/3s of them were flagged by music publishing companies. My appeals were automatically rejected.

    • The original length was 14 years. That's plenty of time to release an album, tour, do a whole bunch of hookers & drugs (genre permitting, obviously)

      Don't worry, classical composers did drugs [wqxr.org] and also apparently also patronized prostitutes [scielo.br].

    • No, the hipster version would involve somebody playing four chords on a ukulele over and over again while somebody else shouts "hey!" between each repetition.

  • Tell me again how copyright "protects creators"... So I can laugh in "land of thinkers and poets". (What Germany was called during the time where it didn't have copyright. By countries that did.)

  • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Bizarre isn't it
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • For a long time I felt the same way, until I looked at a few streams my wife was watching. And some of them were actually rather nice to watch. Some streamers are good at narrating a game or riffing on it, and some of them are funny as hell doing it. Or there are teams playing multiplayer games like CS/go, with funny banter or showing off good teamwork. You have to look around a little for streamers that you’ll enjoy, and not everyone will like the same ones. I dislike almost all of the big ticket str
    • by ruddk ( 5153113 )

      Think about what was (is?) on TV that people have watched. There are a few expensive good series. But tons of the content on tv are really cheaply produced filler with no nutritional value for the brain. And people watch that.

    • by xonen ( 774419 )

      [...] I don't like playing videogames much, although can think of some situations where I can enjoy them. But watching others playing those games? Why? I see the point of watching someone saying something amusing or interesting or informative. I can also understand the appeal of watching someone performing somehow complex and interesting-to-me actions like [...]

      Well, maybe it is because you are not into video gaming. A chess game for example would match your criteria - people performing complex actions and interesting to watch but only if you're into chess.

      I think (m)any video game the same, but sometimes you have to play the game yourself and have some deeper knowledge of its working to appreciate the skills the streamer demonstrates. And even if not-that-skilled, everyone will have different approaches to similar problems which might be interesting to watch. I a

    • I'm 35, not sure if that counts as old or not. I'll try elaborating why I sometimes watch gamer streams. Before we continue, note that I can't stand the ones where the player shouts and interferes in the game and I don't give much care for "celebrities", so I may not represent the younger generation. Anyway, here we go:

      1) Sometimes a game just isn't good enough to play. Some games have really good graphics but are not worth your time, in which case you just want to watch them like somebody watches a dumb ac

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      Being unable to understand the point of mainstream interests like watching others play videogames definetively seems like a sign of getting old.

      Yup. Right in your own post you give a bunch of reasons why people would watch streamers:

      I see the point of watching someone saying something amusing or interesting or informative. I can also understand the appeal of watching someone performing somehow complex and interesting-to-me actions

      Same reasons people watch sports, comedy shows, documentaries, listen to talk

  • I mean, Twitch started as a gameplaying video showcase... ...but could you show me any game that has no "music" at all? Because the music in videogames are copyrighted...

    So... basically Twitch is saying its user of gameplaying video to delete all their gameplaying videos.

    Nice move!

    • by Cederic ( 9623 )

      could you show me any game that has no "music" at all?

      Sure. Rogue, Hack, Nethack, Angband and their variants.

      Also: Any game in which you set the music volume to 0.

      Also: Any game that offers a toggle to turn music off.

      Also: Any game that offers a 'Streaming' mode, in which the game will not play any music or sounds not explicitly licenced for streaming.

      I mean, this isn't hard. I don't understand all the protests and upset over this. I have 300 videos on Youtube containing video game footage and not a single one of them has been flagged by the music cartels.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      They need to work out a system where copyright holders get paid, and the content doesn't get taken down.

      I expect what you'd end up with is something like the modern music industry: a bunch of corporate suits taking the lion's share of the Twitch stream's revenue for the music rights, and the actual streamer (artist) getting pennies on the dollar.

    • That system already exists. Restaurants, bars, and music venues which play incidental and live music pay a flat fee for a blanket license [ascap.com]. The industry just needs to be forced to offer those licenses to online content producers, which would exempt you from music-based DMCA copyright infringement takedown notices.
  • Firstly - Twitch is just the vehicle, just like YouTube and many other platforms out there. They arenâ(TM)t the ones issuing the DMCA takedown notices. If creators want to protest, they should take it to the music labels issuing those notices.

    Secondly - donâ(TM)t use music thatâ(TM)s not yours in your content. Plenty of other royalty-free music out there, if you bothered to look for them.

  • The root of problem is that draconian copyright laws got shoved down our throats by lobbyists. What we need is to redefine the meaning of fair use to expand it to streaming and other "transformative" uses.
  • Republicans favor the big corporations and thus RIAA. Democrats favor draconian censorship. So, give up all hope that DMCA will be fixed in the next 4 years, if ever.

  • I understand (though may not agree with) requests for streamers that play music in the background that is unrelated to game play. It can be argued that the music is enhancing the channel that is being used to generate income.

    What I think is ridiculous are requests of infringement based on in game music/sounds. It has been established that game play is fair use. Penalties for false infringement should result in $1000 fine to the streamer, per request.
  • This is where the legal fiction of copyrights and patents will always end up. The moment someone makes money from an unanticipated method of commercial exploitation, the lawyers will show up to demand protection money. It has to stop.

    It is about time we protest copyright law itself and do away with the concept of intellectual property once and for all. Copying things should not be illegal, period. The service industry has repeatedly shown that digital creative works in of themselves have little to no r
  • All of these issues could be easily fixed with just two simple reforms to the DMCA:

    1) Ban all automatic takedowns. Any and every DMCA takedown claim should be reviewed, certified, and submitted via registered mail by a single identifiable individual person who is either the owner of the content or their legal representative with power of attorney.

    2) Put teeth into the "under penalty of perjury" part of the DMCA. Put those identifiable individuals from #1 in prison for that perjury when they decide to issu

  • I had the same problem on YouTube, with their DMCA software flagging their own free music and marking my videos... and their link to report a problem was broken.
  • There are some pretty obvious options for the streamers, but Twitch needs to have the brains to make it easy. There is an excellent argument that this is fair use - and the streamers should file counterclaims.

    So: why doesn't Twitch make the easy? "Your video has a DMCA claim against it - click here to counterclaim."

    All of these services allow automated DMCA claims, so the should all automate the counterclaim process as well.

  • 'Happy Birthday' is a copyrighted song, did you all know that? If you perform it somewhere, you're technically supposed to pay a royalty fee.
    I propose everyone on Twitch that wants to protest what's going on sing 'Happy Birthday' on Twitch. Technically they have to file for it to be taken down. Push the issue. A few hundred thousand people having judges hear how they're being sued for 'Happy Birthday' will likely help force the whole issue.
    • by ChoGGi ( 522069 )

      'Happy Birthday' is a copyrighted song, did you all know that? If you perform it somewhere, you're technically supposed to pay a royalty fee.

      Not since 2016

  • As far as I can see, nobody advocates what I consider the best option: work to get the DMCA modified so that bringing a complaint that is later adjudged spurious triggers penalties payable to the party whose content was taken down or otherwise censored. Right now, there's no real downside to filing meritless complaints, and the potential upside that the content you don't want people to see gets booted.
  • If the music on a twitch stream is just In the background, then Iâ(TM)d like to see at AI engine replace it with something else, maybe a cover version that has more permissive licensing. Iâ(TM)m pretty sure that once music has been identified, it should be possible to extract it from the stream and replace it with something else. Then all the clips could be kept. Indeed, you could even have listeners decide which background music to listen to when viewing. I know it wonâ(TM)t solve actual gam

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