Twitch Discloses New Process To Report illegal Music Use

Amazon-owned live-streaming platform, Twitch has told creators in an email that is putting together a new process that publishers and right holders can use to report illegal use of content.

Twitch struck a deal with the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), but it still wouldn't give streamers access to songs they can legally use. According to a publication by Billboard, the Amazon-owned live streaming service made a financial settlement for past usage of licensed music on the platform.

In its email, Twitch says the new process is more forgiving of users who may have inadvertently caught music they have no authority to use in their streams. Streamers can't dispute a report if they're flagged for violation, since Twitch will just remove their videos. Even users who've previously secured the rights to use a piece of music can get their content deleted if they're falsely flagged.

“As part of this agreement, we want to let you know about a new process that we are creating that participating music rights holders can opt into to report certain uses of their music, which is more flexible and forgiving to creators who inadvertently or incidentally use music in their streams than the existing process required under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and similar global laws,”

“This new process does not change how music can be used on Twitch. As we’ve said consistently, it’s never okay to include music in your channel unless you’ve secured the necessary rights or have the authority to do so,” Twitch wrote in its email.

Previously, if streamers received multiple DMCA notices, they were at risk of having their Twitch channels suspended or permanently banned.

Twitch made the deal after a turbulent season during which NMPA president and CEO, David Israelite, took specific aim at Twitch. As part of a June speech at the NMPA’s 2021 annual meeting, Israelites said an "intensive enforcement program to ID and remove unlicensed songs from [Twitch]” was already underway at the time.