Twitch Is Headed For a Copyright Disaster
Twitch may be forced to build its own ContentID–or pick a fight with the music industry.
On Friday, Twitch sent out an email to its users letting them know that the company had received “about 1,000 individual claims from music publishers,” and “they will likely send further notices.” The message was clear: Stop using copyrighted music in your streams, and check your old videos before they get taken down.
This isn’t the first time that Twitch has wrestled with the problem of music on its platform, and it doesn’t look like the issue will resolve any time soon. Eventually, Twitch may only have two options: Either build new tools to help bridge the gap between creators and rights holders, or turn on one of those groups.
Twitch’s most recent email is notable for a number of reasons, and they’re worth going through point by point.
First, there’s the number of claims Twitch says it has received. The email says the company received “about 1,000 individual claims.” This isn’t insignificant, but it’s also not exactly a flood of requests. For comparison, back in 2016, Google said it…
