Twitch has issued a warning on Twitter for Fortnite streamers to delete their footage of the recent Nexus War event. The Nexus War event has seen the ending of Fortnite's fourth season, giving fans the opportunity to fly the game's iconic battle bus into the mouth of legendary Marvel villain Galactus to defeat him and save reality. It was a memorable way to bring Fortnite's epic Marvel crossover event to a close, and one that was surely attended by a lot of fans and streamed to even more.
These streamers have had plenty of reason to be cautious recently, though. Twitch has not been a safe place for content creators recently due to an unprecedented amount of DMCA copyright strikes that the website is clearly not equipped to deal with. These legal attacks have led to a massive "DMCA bloodbath" as streamers see their content deleted en masse with little to no warning or hope for recourse. Not even partnered streamers are safe; the website has been banning some of them over their sound effect usage in a desperate attempt to escape legal repercussions. The most minor of sound effects can incur the wrath of the DMCA; players have faced strikes for innocuous in-game sound effects like birds chirping and clocks ticking.
Now streamers may have to beware the music featured in Fortnite's Nexus War event. A recent Twitter post from the Twitch Support account warns fans of a DMCA risk involved in the Nexus War. In order to avoid incurring any penalties, Twitch is encouraging any streamers who took part in the season ending event to export their VODs and clips now and then delete any Nexus War footage from their Twitch channel. A link to the website's FAQ on DMCA notices has also been provided so that streamers can further educate themselves on the dangers of streaming.
Twitch's response to this DMCA emergency has been severely lacking. The company's even been called out for its behavior by a former VP. Its handling of the Nexus War event is arguably an improvement over its behavior in the past, as it at least gives streamers a chance to preserve their content before the ban hammer comes down. But it's certainly not a feasible option in the long run. Streamers are going to want to record their participation in major events like this. Telling these streamers to hide their VODs as soon as possible makes Twitch feel less like a platform for content sharing and more like a speakeasy getting raided by cops.
Twitch is one of the most prominent platforms for video game streamers, and it has a lot of potential to do a lot of good. In November, for instance, the website donated an incredible $1 million dollars to the AbleGamers Foundation, which is an incredible boon for video game fans with disabilities. Twitch could be a really positive presence in the internet world, and a safe place for Fortnite streamers and general video game fans alike, but it absolutely needs to take stronger action to help its users survive the DMCA.
Source: Twitch Support