Twitch personality Hasan Piker received a DMCA notice from Twitch last week after livestreaming countless hours of Gordon Ramsay’s reality cooking show MasterChef. But following some rumors that the DMCA claim may not have been issued by a valid authority, Twitch has suddenly retracted Piker’s DMCA strike, explaining that it was “processed by mistake.”
Last night, Piker tweeted out a screengrab of the retraction he received from Twitch, writing, “get fucked everyone.” Piker has been a big fan of the MasterChef meta, in part because of his sincere love of food, but also in part because it means a mental break from the endless stream of high-charged political content that usually consumes his channel.
Piker previously said the “MasterChef meta is over.” But now, he’s reversed his take and plans to resume streaming the show again immediately.
In a series of Instagram stories posted last night and this morning, Piker’s view on the DMCA becomes quite clear. He doesn’t appear concerned by DMCA strikes or the fact that streaming copyrighted content is technically against the law. This apparent act of rebellion sets an interesting example and precedent of how Twitch chooses to enforce (or not enforce) streamers who violate copyright law on a case-by-case basis.
While Piker might be taking his retracted DMCA violation in stride, posting memes about being “acquitted,” some Twitch experts are urging streamers to take DMCA strikes more seriously. Devin Nash, CMO of Novo Talent who’s known for his in-depth critiques of Twitch, argues that this “reaction meta” is a lazy way for streamers to make money while violating DMCA rules.
“The state of the website is so sad, to me,” Nash said in a YouTube video responding to the recent influx of DMCA strikes on Twitch. “I miss the legitimate gaming content that used to be on Twitch. Justin TV basically switched over to Twitch way, way long ago because everybody was streaming like illegal stuff and soccer games and stuff on Justin TV … the website didn’t have an identity … and it feels like we’re right back there. The top broadcasters, the most popular broadcasters on the website are doing lazy ass reacts content … I kinda hope you all burn. It’s lazy, man. This is bringing down the website as a whole.”
While some might despise the ongoing “reaction meta,” it appears to be here to stay until further notice. Piker might be safe for now, but other streamers like Disguised Toast have felt the sting of DMCA strikes. He recently received a month-long ban for streaming episodes of the anime Death Note.
