In a time where Twitch has been forced to crack down on DCMA violations, a U.S senator is attempting to enforce punishments on those who are caught using copyrighted material.
Sen. Thom Tillis recently proposed a bill that would give law enforcement officials “effective tools” that would be used to punish content creators who breach copyright. If the bill passes, offenders may face jail time.
As expected, the Twitch and YouTube communities were vocal in protest of the proposed bill. Many on Twitter shared their criticism along with the hashtag #StopDMCA, which began trending in the U.S.
Along with these tweets, YouTuber TheQuartering shared in a post what he claims to be a list of donors for Senator Tillis’s campaign. Included in the list are many well-known record and production companies that could potentially be the catalyst for the recent DMCA influx.
Over the past few months, streamers have been hit with DMCA strikes on Twitch. Users were initially affected by background music, but some streamers have now reported strikes stemming from in-game audio.
Twitch recommends streamers avoid playing potentially copyrighted music on stream and to remove any old VODs or clips that could potentially include this material. OBS and Twitch are also collaborating to separate audio tracks for VODs as a way to combat DMCA takedowns.
