Let’s be frank: not all uses of copyrighted material are the same. In recognition of this fact, we have partnered with certain music rights holders to launch a more flexible and accommodating process for Twitch creators who inadvertently or incidentally include these rights holders’ music in their channels. We refer to this process as the “Removal Process for Participating Music Rights Holders” (in short, the “Music Reporting Process”) and set out what it means for creators in the remainder of this page.
We know you’re interested in the details – but first, a brief explanation of our current systems and why we created this process for music copyright claims. Twitch is a live streaming video service that gives creators the ability to create and share live and on-demand (e.g., VODs and clips) audiovisual content that community members can watch and discuss in real time. In consideration of this, Twitch, like other services, operates in compliance with the DMCA and similar global laws. These laws permit copyright holders – including music rights holders – who believe their copyrights are being misused by creators to submit notifications requesting a takedown of the allegedly infringing content. These laws also allow creators whose content is identified to dispute them by submitting counter-notifications or to ask the claimant for a retraction. As explained in our DMCA Guidelines, Twitch acts as a “go-between” in these disputes – that is, Twitch’s role isn’t to decide who’s “right” and who’s “wrong” in a particular dispute – and is required by law to terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe copyrights.
We know that copyright law can be challenging to navigate, particularly for our creators who express themselves in such unique ways, and we’ve entered into contractual agreements with certain music rights holders to help creators better understand what uses of music are and are not permitted on the service. These agreements recognize that background, incidental, and in-game uses of music in creators’ streams, VODs, and clips merit different treatment from more flagrant music uses such as operating an unlicensed radio station, rebroadcasting a concert, or sharing unreleased or prerelease tracks.
Now: the details. As part of the Music Reporting Process, Twitch may:
Remove or mute VODs (e.g., stream archives, highlights, uploads, or clips) that include unauthorized content (e.g., sound recordings, musical compositions, or videos) that music copyright owners identify.
VODs and clips are scanned for copyrighted audio. If copyrighted audio is detected in a VOD, Twitch automatically mutes that portion of that VOD (or, in the case of clips, deletes that clip). These agreements allow participating music rights holders to ask Twitch to remove or mute VODs or clips that include their sound recordings, musical compositions, or videos without any penalty to the creator.
| Tip: If you believe one of your videos has been muted because it was incorrectly flagged by our audio recognition system, you can follow our appeals process integrated into the Video Producer of your Dashboard. For more information, please check out our How to Appeal Muted Audio help article. |
If channels engage in the following activity without authorization, issue a warning for each first offense and penalties (“music reporting penalties”) for subsequent offenses. Channels that accumulate three music reporting penalties, in addition to the first warning, for any of these categories will be terminated.
* May also result in Twitch ending the live stream engaged in such activity and imposing a 48-hour suspension.
** Results in an immediate permanent suspension.
Creators who use recorded music in one of these ways will have an opportunity to submit an appeal.
Final callouts:
Please check out our Video On Demand and How to Use Clips help articles to learn about the tools and features available to help you manage the content on your channel.