Streaming veteran Jaryd ‘summit1g’ Lazar has revealed just how close to a ban from Twitch he is, having received three copyright strikes in the ongoing DMCA controversy.
Recent weeks and months have seen a number of Twitch streamers forced to delete countless hours of past VODs and clips to avoid receiving copyright strikes and, ultimately, being banned from the platform.
Many have called on the platform to do more to protect streamers and their content, but it seems Twitch has its hands tied. The general response from streamers has been to remove past content from Twitch and re-upload it to other platforms where the risk of accumulating copyright strikes is far lower.
Despite being on the platform full-time since 2012, Summit has been affected just as strongly as any other streamer. In fact, it seems he’s treading an incredibly fine line at the moment, confirming on November 7 that he has already received multiple strikes.
“It’s getting kinda serious, I gotta be honest,” he said, when asked about the situation by a viewer. “I’ve been DMCA’d three times now. And I had to send off emails saying like ‘Yo, I started this deletion process, I need these reverted.’ I’m assuming that something went down because I’m not banned and I’m on a three-strike banger.”
Most DMCA claims relate to music featured in old broadcasts, and it appears that no one is safe, not even streamers who have been on the platform for nearly a decade. Pokimane, for example, the most followed female streamer in the world, has also been forced to remove all her VODs from the platform.
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When a viewer suggested he would be protected due to his popularity on the platform, Summit explained his concern. “When it comes down to getting sued by the music industry, or getting rid of the streamer that’s causing that suit, I don’t know man, I’m a little worried.”
He went on to explain that it would be “quite a swing of life, if all of a sudden I was not employed by Twitch anymore, that would be a curveball. I’m not really sure what I would do after that.”
Whether Summit can avoid a ban despite the numerous strikes remains to be seen, but it would certainly be significant news if a streamer of his tenure and popularity receives a suspension. For now, we’ll have to hope his emails keep him on the right side of any DMCA ramifications.
