Pokimane, xQc among several Twitch streamers forced to delete years of videos over fears of getting DMCA banned

The controversial Twitch DMCA takedown notice continues to wreak havoc, as eminent streamers like Pokimane, xQc, and DrLupo have all been forced to delete years of content.

Recently, Twitch dropped a major bombshell on creators, issuing a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notice, which caused panic among several streamers.

The notice issued by Twitch stated that the music used by streamers was copyrighted, as a result of which the platform held power to delete their content. Moreover, this was notified via hundreds of emails, leaving these broadcasters frantic and wondering as to what exactly happened:

This harsh means of clamping down reeks of negligence and mismanagement on Twitch's part, and seems to be a way of making streamers more subservient towards its rigid content infringement policy.

And now, there seems to be a looming sense of fear, as several streamers have begun deleting years of videos to safeguard themselves from a potential DMCA ban.

One of the most notable streamers who had to delete terabytes of Twitch VOD's is Felix "xQc" Lengyel, who was certainly not happy and made it a point to let Twitch know:

Labeling them corporate billionaires, he tore into Twitch's questionable policies by sarcastically agreeing to comply with their laws.

He was joined by Imane "Pokimane" Anys, who revealed that she was deleting more than six years of VOD's and memories:

There seems to be a sense of dissatisfaction with Twitch at the sudden manner of implementation, as several members from the online community took to Twitter to vent their grievances.

---

Twitch vs streamers ft DMCA

According to the updated DMCA Guidelines on its website, Twitch has revealed in detail the guidelines behind its recent notices:

"It is our policy to respond to clear notices of claimed copyright infringement that fully comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In addition, we will promptly terminate without notice the accounts of those determined by us to be "repeat infringers."

"Please note that under 17 U.S.C. Section 512(f), any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing, or that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, may be subject to liability."

While the DMCA is a federal law aimed at calling out unlicensed use of products or services, the primary issue which most streamers have with Twitch is its shoddy management of the entire situation.

Esports Insider Rod "Slasher" Breslau highlighted a vital point via his series of tweets, where he spoke about a possible streamer uprising being necessary to counter the monopoly of corporates:

His thoughts were echoed by members of the streaming community, who expressed concern over the fact that several of their videos had to be deleted:

As evident from the tweets above, there seems to be a pervasive sense of disappointment among streamers at how Twitch has handled the entire situation, easily avoidable via a more thoughtful approach.