Twitch streamer OmegaPro pleads for reform of copyright rules after ‘impossible’ ban
OmegaPro. (Twitter)
Twitch streamer OmegaPro has pleaded for a ban reversal after receiving two copyright strikes for the same clip.
The Twitch partner received an initial ban of two days on 7 May for infringement of copyright while showing Vampire Diaries.
On his return, he then received a second permanent ban on 12 May while playing Persona, though he believes this is for the same clip and has been done in error.
“I got banned for the same VOD that I was banned for last week, a VOD that’s already been deleted,” said OmegaPro on Twitter.
I got banned for the same VOD that I was banned for last week.. a VOD that's already been deleted https://t.co/NDRACkqDZH
— OmegaPro 🍉 (@OmegaProYT) May 13, 2021
The streamer told Dexerto: “The copyright claim seemed to be the exact same as the one I had received the week prior, the only difference being that the claim states I streamed the same content today that I did last week.”
“The time stamp given with the copyright takedown was a moment in my stream where I was playing Persona 5.
“The copyrighted content was Vampire Diaries.”
On Twitter, he shared the two ban notifications from Twitch.
the ORIGINAL copyright takedown (left) states that i streamed the infringing content on friday may 7th, which is true. the NEW takedown says that the infringed content was streamed today on the 12th, which isnt possible because i was streaming persona at the time pic.twitter.com/dCeAXi9nPL— OmegaPro 🍉 (@OmegaProYT) May 13, 2021
OmegaPro has a strong following, with 33,000 followers on Twitch and 100,00 YouTube subscribers.
“If I were to lose it, my life would be severely negatively impacted,” he told Dexerto.
“I do have a decent following on Twitter and YouTube, so assuming this ban doesn’t get reversed, I believe I could start over and build an audience on another streaming platform.
“Rebuilding everything would be incredibly mentally and emotionally taxing for me, and I would much prefer to stay on Twitch as I prefer the experience of streaming and viewing streams on there.”
He hopes that Twitch will reverse the decision.
“Ideally, I would really love to see Twitch change up how they handle DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act]. I think an amazing place to start would be to wipe the strikes after a 90 day period, similar to how YouTube currently handles it and how Twitch handles other TOS violations.
“I understand that the DMCA issue is a nuanced one, but I don’t see a reason why DMCA violations should be a permanent mark on your channel.”
DMCA copyright infringement is a big issue on Twitch, with streamers receiving bans or fines for showing copyrighted material.
Twitch is also clamping down on poor behaviour and hateful content, with Disguised Toast recently receiving a ban for failing to censor some content.
The Twitch terms of service have been stretched, though, by the rise of hot tub streamers.
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