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This should be fun for a service like Twitch. What happens when a streamer on their platform starts playing a game with a copywritten song playing on the game's

This should be fun for a service like Twitch. What happens when a streamer on their platform starts playing a game with a copywritten song playing on the game's radio or background? Many times the streamers themselves are not aware that this is a crime.

jonwalch 6y ago
This is already a problem on Twitch. Cyberpunk 2077 claimed to have a "streamer mode" where no copywritten music was played, but they didn't actually ship the feature.
- dharmab 6y ago
  Correction: They shipped the feature at launch but it had a bug where some copyrighted material was missed.
  - yakz 6y ago
    If you "ship" a feature that only works if it always works and it doesn't always work, does that really count?
    - edoceo 6y ago
      I think you can still tick the "shipped" box even if you have bugs with subjective levels of severity. Otherwise, I'd never ship :/
    - 1f60c 6y ago
      Yes? Bugs make it to prod all the time.
      - FeepingCreature 6y ago
        To be fair, usually bugs don't expose people to criminal liability.
      - yakz 6y ago
        In this case, I don't see it as a 'bug' though... I would see something like not playing music at all or playing the same unencumbered song on repeat as a bug. Playing only a single song just long enough to earn a copyright strike means this feature doesn't exist. Instead, it's an implementation of a checkbox on a settings screen that enables some side effects that are not what the text next to the checkbox describes.
toomuchtodo 6y ago
Someone spins up a Twitch clone in a more friendly jurisdiction.
- pluc 6y ago
  twit.ch?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - JorgeGT 6y ago
    Already owned by Com Laude ("Strategic Domain Name Solutions & Brand Protection") so Twitch probably covered their bases here.
    - ddingus 6y ago
      swit.ch
    - pluc 6y ago
      Wouldn't have posted it if it was available ;)
  - JetSpiegel 6y ago
    https://twitch.amazon/ https://twitch.amazon/ Register a company in Brazil!
- judge2020 6y ago
  Just like GDPR, doing business in a country subjects you to the laws of said country regardless of where you are incorporated. If this wasn’t the case, a lot of companies would only have to follow the laws of Panama or the Cayman Islands.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - 6y ago
SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
This law requires that the service as a whole be primarily designed for or marketed to the piracy market. So there’s no real grey area, we can be confident it won’t apply to Twitch.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
DanBC 6y ago
> Many times the streamers themselves are not aware that this is a crime. It's not a crime. What criminal law is being broken?
- dharmab 6y ago
  Games include two types of music: Original music is created by the game creators and streaming rights are included in the software EULA. Licensed music is created by third party artists and is usually not included in the software EULA because the music artist/publisher does not grant that type of license to the game creator/publisher. A gamer streaming gameplay that includes the copyrighted song will trigger automatic copyright protection on the streaming service they use and is subject to DMCA takedowns. Modern games often include a "streamer mode" which replaces or mutes the licensed music.
  - DanBC 6y ago
    Sure, but the claim being made was that this is a crime. In many places there are two types of law civil and criminal. In the US copyright infringement is unlawful but it's almost always civil law.
    - dharmab 6y ago
      The DMCA has both civil and criminal penalties. The criminal penalties include fines and jail time.
      - DanBC 6y ago
        Yes, but again: why is this criminal and not civil infringement? Can you point to the section of DMCA that you think turns this into a criminal offence rather than just civil infringement?
jariel 6y ago
It will eventually be sorted out in the contracts whereby the games get licences for whatever content: music performed in-game is 'part of the experience' etc. and/or because they are playing a game with the music artists will claim that it's an original work in it's totality. Twitch already has mostly DRM aware content creators - I hear them talking about 'rights' quite a lot in their streams.
boobsbr 6y ago
My issue with these copyright strikes on streams is: who will actually watch a stream just to listen to a song played in the background of a videogame with all the game sound effects and dialog and streamers talking? It's the worst listening experience ever. It's much easier to just go to YouTube and listen to the song uploaded by an official channel.

jonwalch 6y ago

This is already a problem on Twitch. Cyberpunk 2077 claimed to have a "streamer mode" where no copywritten music was played, but they didn't actually ship the feature.

dharmab 6y ago
Correction: They shipped the feature at launch but it had a bug where some copyrighted material was missed.
- yakz 6y ago
  If you "ship" a feature that only works if it always works and it doesn't always work, does that really count?
  - edoceo 6y ago
    I think you can still tick the "shipped" box even if you have bugs with subjective levels of severity. Otherwise, I'd never ship :/
  - 1f60c 6y ago
    Yes? Bugs make it to prod all the time.
    - FeepingCreature 6y ago
      To be fair, usually bugs don't expose people to criminal liability.
    - yakz 6y ago
      In this case, I don't see it as a 'bug' though... I would see something like not playing music at all or playing the same unencumbered song on repeat as a bug. Playing only a single song just long enough to earn a copyright strike means this feature doesn't exist. Instead, it's an implementation of a checkbox on a settings screen that enables some side effects that are not what the text next to the checkbox describes.

toomuchtodo 6y ago

Someone spins up a Twitch clone in a more friendly jurisdiction.

pluc 6y ago
twit.ch?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- JorgeGT 6y ago
  Already owned by Com Laude ("Strategic Domain Name Solutions & Brand Protection") so Twitch probably covered their bases here.
  - ddingus 6y ago
    swit.ch
  - pluc 6y ago
    Wouldn't have posted it if it was available ;)
- JetSpiegel 6y ago
  https://twitch.amazon/ https://twitch.amazon/ Register a company in Brazil!
judge2020 6y ago
Just like GDPR, doing business in a country subjects you to the laws of said country regardless of where you are incorporated. If this wasn’t the case, a lot of companies would only have to follow the laws of Panama or the Cayman Islands.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- 6y ago

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago

This law requires that the service as a whole be primarily designed for or marketed to the piracy market. So there’s no real grey area, we can be confident it won’t apply to Twitch.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

DanBC 6y ago

> Many times the streamers themselves are not aware that this is a crime. It's not a crime. What criminal law is being broken?

dharmab 6y ago
Games include two types of music: Original music is created by the game creators and streaming rights are included in the software EULA. Licensed music is created by third party artists and is usually not included in the software EULA because the music artist/publisher does not grant that type of license to the game creator/publisher. A gamer streaming gameplay that includes the copyrighted song will trigger automatic copyright protection on the streaming service they use and is subject to DMCA takedowns. Modern games often include a "streamer mode" which replaces or mutes the licensed music.
- DanBC 6y ago
  Sure, but the claim being made was that this is a crime. In many places there are two types of law civil and criminal. In the US copyright infringement is unlawful but it's almost always civil law.
  - dharmab 6y ago
    The DMCA has both civil and criminal penalties. The criminal penalties include fines and jail time.
    - DanBC 6y ago
      Yes, but again: why is this criminal and not civil infringement? Can you point to the section of DMCA that you think turns this into a criminal offence rather than just civil infringement?

jariel 6y ago

It will eventually be sorted out in the contracts whereby the games get licences for whatever content: music performed in-game is 'part of the experience' etc. and/or because they are playing a game with the music artists will claim that it's an original work in it's totality. Twitch already has mostly DRM aware content creators - I hear them talking about 'rights' quite a lot in their streams.

boobsbr 6y ago

My issue with these copyright strikes on streams is: who will actually watch a stream just to listen to a song played in the background of a videogame with all the game sound effects and dialog and streamers talking? It's the worst listening experience ever. It's much easier to just go to YouTube and listen to the song uploaded by an official channel.