Twitch strikes new Universal Music deal to help stop DMCA streamer bans

Twitch has expanded its music relationship with Universal Music Group, as a part of their existing agreement with the NMPA. 

On September 21, 2021, Twitch announced that they had reached an agreement with the National Music Publishers Association to help curb DMCA punishments against content creators on the website.

The Amazon-owned streaming site says that with the NMPA on their side, they will be able to look at music-based copyright claims on a case-by-case basis — allowing them to issue warnings to accidental offenders.

Soon after, Twitch revealed the Warner Music Group had joined the deal, and now, they’ve expanded the agreement further with Universal Music Group joining.

Twitch expands music deal with Universal Music Group

Max Mustermann | ccnull.de

While Twitch has been working on music agreements, streamers have been receiving strikes for TV shows.

In an email sent out by Twitch on January 27, the company revealed that Universal Music Group has agreed to follow its new music reporting process for reporting the unauthorized use of their music on Twitch.

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As Dexerto reported in September, here are the new steps that the group will follow alongside Warner Music Group:

• Similar to DMCA, the platform will review reports and check for completeness.
• Unlike DMCA, they will give creators a chance to correct their offense by first issuing a warning:
  • VODs and Clips that contain unauthorized music will be removed
  • If a live stream involves flagrant music uses like rebroadcasting music concerts and pre-release tracks, the platform may also issue a warning or penalty dependent on the creator’s history of that kind of use.

Twitch

Twitch detailed their agreement in an email.

In their latest email, Twitch mentioned that they have moved to this process because they believe it recognizes that not all unauthorized uses of music deserve the same punishment.

This would allow the platform to give a warning to a creator who accidentally played a clip of a copyrighted song while providing full DMCA strikes to repeat offenders.

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A great example of an accidental copyright issue would be the jukebox on Back 4 Blood, where the developers did not have the ability to disable copyrighted songs for streamers.

While this doesn’t mean you can now listen to music on the platform, it’s a step in the right direction for less harsh punishments.