Twitch has started cracking down on DJ live streams

DJs attempting to stream on Twitch are noticing an increase in copyright takedowns of both live streams and archival clips in line with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), reports Paper.

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The streaming platform’s Community Guidelines for music specify that copyrighted music is not allowed on the platform.

An example listed of music content not allowed on Twitch streams is: “DJ Set – Playing and/or mixing pre-recorded music tracks which incorporate music, other than music which is owned by you or music which is licensed for you to share on Twitch.”

Those rules now seem to be getting enforced more stringently than previously, with a number of streamers posting on social media about takedowns. Some have expressed shock at their accounts being at risk of being permanently banned.

As a platform Twitch must comply with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which for the most part protects websites and platforms from legal liability of content posted by its users, but not does allow for the intellectual property laws to be violated. This means platforms are accountable to copyright infringement if it’s not dealt with, or they face losing the Safe Harbor protection of showing “good faith” in complying with the law.

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Twitch’s takedowns follow Instagram recently implementing pop-ups to warn against DJ live streams featuring copyrighted music.

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Features Editor, follow him on Twitter

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