During the platform's first-ever live Town Hall, Twitch apologized for the way it has handled certain issues with DMCA takedowns and promised legal solutions that could relieve some of the platform's most pressing issues. Twitch has struggled to properly communicate with its users regarding the ongoing DMCA issues, but today was another step in the right direction for the platform.

Twitch's DMCA issues arose in October of this year when various streamers on the site were notified that their content had been removed without warning due to audio that violates the platform's guidelines. This was then followed by multiple waves of DMCA strikes that resulted in the removal of some of the platform's largest streamers. Twitch offered little in the way of help, stating streamers should delete all of their old videos and clips, avoid streaming music, and mute in-game audio that could result in DMCA strikes. As streamers struggled to stay afloat in a sea of DMCA confusion, some tried to comply with the onerous new rules and others protested them.

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Today, Twitch owned its mistakes during its first-ever Town Hall, which consisted of three sections of updates surrounding some of the platform's biggest concerns and a 30-minute Q&A with handpicked questions from the audience. During the Q&A, the question was asked "Who gave the 'okay' to tweet to the majority of the userbase that muting the in-game audio was the best way to protect from DMCA, and how could something so tone-deaf make its way down the pipeline?" Twitch COO Sara Clemens answered by apologizing on behalf of the platform stating that Twitch had "missed the mark" and that the asker was right in saying that it was a "tone-deaf" response that should not have happened.

twitch town hall dmca discussion

In addition to an apology, Twitch's Head of Creator Products Jeremy Forrester stated that Twitch is currently in discussion with multiple record labels for potential site-wide licensing. This would allow Twitch to pay a license fee to a record label to ensure that the content containing that label's audio would not be at risk of a DMCA takedown. However, Forrester stated that this is an expensive route and Twitch is unlike any other streaming platform for which a license does not currently exist. Twitch is negotiating with these labels in hopes to reach an agreement that works for both parties. Forrester was also transparent in stating that if this does come to fruition, it could take a long time to process if it does at all.

During the 2.5-hour broadcast, there was plenty of other discussion surrounding DMCA issues, and it's apparent that Twitch is making an effort to make the platform a safe environment for everyone. It's nice to know that, even though Twitch hit a bit of a rough DMCA patch, things are getting back to normal for the platform. And if the deals with the record labels do become a reality, Twitch will be better than normal.

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Source: Twitch