Copyright Law Could Strike Twitch Streamers

<p>The war between copyright lobbyists and streamers continues&period; We&&num;8217&semi;ve already seen numerous Twitch streamers get their VODs taken down&period;  And it seems it could get even nastier if a proposed U&period;S&period; law gets passed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This law&comma; if passed&comma; would make unauthorized broadcasting of copyrighted content on streaming platforms a felony&period; The proposal is the work of Republican senator Thom Tillis&comma; who <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;torrentfreak&period;com&sol;controversial-copyright-legislation-may-show-up-in-must-pass-us-spending-bill-201209&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">previously has backed similar proposals<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The proposal is exactly what it sounds like&period; It would turn unauthorized streaming of copyrighted material into a felony&period; Whether you stream an album on YouTube&comma; a video clip on Twitch&comma; or a song on Instagram&comma; you would be punished as if you were committing an actual crime&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The problem with this proposal is that it would stifle expression and freedom on the internet&period; People use music&comma; both copyrighted and not&comma; to express themselves&period; It is also a powerful promotion tool&comma; as artists being featured in a stream would have their music shown to more people&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;news&period;bitcoin&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;07&sol;live-streaming-service-twitch-gives-subscribers-10-discount-if-they-pay-with-cryptocurrency&period;jpg" alt&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;news&period;bitcoin&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;07&sol;live-streaming-service-twitch-gives-subscribers-10-discount-if-they-pay-with-cryptocurrency&period;jpg" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">A Punishment On Creators<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Civil rights group such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have strongly criticized the proposal&period; Which is understandable given the law would benefit the industry&comma; but punish regular people&period;They penned a letter to the U&period;S&period; senate last week&comma; expressing their thoughts on the law&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>As creators&comma; innovators&comma; small businesses&comma; online service providers&comma; libraries&comma; educators&comma; and civil society organizations&comma; we are concerned with including controversial copyright or trademark bills in a must-pass piece of legislation&period; We respect Congress’s intent to improve our intellectual property system and protect the rights of creators and entrepreneurs&period; However&comma; certain aspects of this package of bills will have negative impacts on small- and medium-sized businesses&comma; creators&comma; libraries and their patrons&comma; students&comma; teachers&comma; educational institutions&comma; religious institutions&comma; fan communities&comma; internet users&comma; and free expression&&num;8230&semi;We ask that you decline to include this package of bills in the funding bill&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p><strong>What are your thoughts on such a proposal&quest; Do you think it would be a good idea&quest; Let us know in the comments&excl;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;