Why was Scump’s CDL watch party DMCA’d?

Activision has apparently filed a DMCA claim on Call of Duty legend Scump’s watch party, capping off a week of drama between the CoD developer and the ex-pro players who create content about the Call of Duty League.

A week ago, several professional players reported that the league was going to “limit” the kind of content they could produce about the league. Specifically, the league’s exclusivity agreement with YouTube prevents CDL gameplay from being broadcast on Twitch, which is the preferred platform for the watch party streamers. While several in the space have bent to Activision’s will, it appears that the league just took action against arguably their biggest supporter.

Quickly, the chat on YouTube began to fill up with one cry: “FREE SCUMP,” an exhortation to unban the popular watch party streamer. Scump’s streams regularly eclipse the popularity of the main stream itself, and his presence in the casual community is considered a bridge to a wider fandom.

Why was Scump’s watch party DMCA’d?

While Activision has yet to comment, a notice on Scump’s Twitch VOD shows that his stream was DMCA’d by Activision. The saga will continue, and more information will come out, but in this instance, it appears that Scump violated the league’s exclusivity contract with YouTube by either showing gameplay or just streaming on Twitch.

The numbers don’t lie: when the Call of Duty League is on Twitch, the viewership improves. Signing a deal that limits growth to YouTube alone is regressive and proves that there are other foundational issues with the league that need addressing. If the CDL needs cash so badly that they’re willing to fight their biggest supporters based on the contract Activision placed them under, it’s not looking good for the long-term future of the league. No matter the future, the CDL just dinged Scump for streaming on Twitch in general or for streaming CDL gameplay on Twitch. Not a great look either way.