By not obtaining licenses or requiring users to obtain them, operating costs are reduced for UGCPs because it eliminates the need of hiring staff to manage DMCA takedown notices.

The DCMA law is now outdatedįirst, the lack of negative consequences faced by users for embedding unlicensed material within monetized clips or livestreams encourages UGCPs to hide their head in the sand. However, recent pressure brought national attention to the issue. Ultimately, the DMCA allows UGCPs like Twitch to sidestep all accountability regardless of DMCA compliance. Yet, that seems to be its current effect after two decades of tech evolution and court cases. The DMCA wasn't intended to provide blanket immunity for global giants like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch.

Drafted in the 1990s, the DMCA was intended to protect the interests of IPOs without victimizing emerging internet companies in an effort to strengthen the economy. The DMCA allows IPOs to request removal of copyrighted material on UGCPs. Like many UGCPs, Twitch avoids liability for IP infringement by asserting immunity through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Users uploading content containing infringing intellectual property (IP) on UGCPs is not new. However, its success is partially derived from its lackluster attitude toward intellectual property owners (IPOs). Walsh and Alyssa Devine are co-founders of Walsh Devine Law, LLC.įollowing its launch in 2011, Twitch quickly became the most popular user-generated content platform (UGCP) for esports.

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