Twitch Issues Apology for Ongoing Music Licensing Issues: "We'll Do Better"

The streaming platform says negotiations with major labels over music copyright and usage are still underway.

As Twitch�remains locked in a seemingly endless dispute with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and major record labels over music copyright and licensing issues, the streaming giant has now issued an apology to its users. Citing frustration and confusion among its users, Twitch apologized in a new blog post that legitimizes their concerns as "completely justified."

“Over the last several months, we have done our best to manage this situation on behalf of both rights holders and creators," the blog post reads. "One of the mistakes we made was not building adequate tools to allow creators to manage their own VOD and Clip libraries."

"You’re rightly upset that the only option we provided was a mass deletion tool for Clips, and that we only gave you three-days notice to use this tool," the post continues. "We could have developed more sophisticated, user-friendly tools awhile ago. That we didn’t is on us. And we could have provided creators with a longer time period to address their VOD and Clip libraries – that was a miss as well."

“We’re truly sorry for these mistakes, and we’ll do better.â€

After thousands of Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) infringement notifications were received by Twitch regarding the use of copyrighted music materials in user-generated content back in June 2020, the Amazon-owned platform still hasn't obtained the licenses required to allow that usage. While Soundtrack by Twitch (the platform's own library of cleared music) was introduced as a potential remedy, many users and industry entities, including the RIAA, felt that it was an insufficient solution to a larger problem. 

Twitch promised in the new blog post that the company is still working with the RIAA and major record labels to obtain the proper licensure required for the usage of copyrighted music on its service. "In the meantime, we’re focused on building tools to better help you manage VODs and Clips and providing licensed music options like Soundtrack, while we explore all options," Twitch said.

To read Twitch's full statement and apology, check out their official blog post.

source https://edm.com/news/twitch-apology-to-users-riaa-dispute