Twitch has implemented several changes that dramatically alter how users are able to store their old replays. A partnership with software company Audible Magic now allows the video streaming service to remove copyrighted music that may be playing in the background of user uploaded videos. This even affects music that may simply have been playing in the background while the user was playing the game. In addition to this, gameplay recordings will not longer be stored indefinitely on the Twitch servers.
Content on Twitch had been very loosely monitored until recent, and there appears to be little explanation for Twitch to begin clamping down on copyrighted audio. The catch is that this only applies to video-on-demand and does not affect livestreams; which make up a large portion of the user generated content on the video streaming site.
However, the company admits that the algorithm is not perfect and maybe still bring up false positives; which has apparently already happened as the background music from the replays of The International Dota 2 Championship 2014 have vanished. Users who believe that they have been improperly flagged are asked to send a notification to Twitch with proof of their ownership of the soundtrack on their video.
Storage of video-on-demand is also undergoing some changes. Full length replays will now be stored for up to 14 days (60 days for Twitch Turbo subscribers), after which they will be permanently taken down. The only way to store these replays are to cut them up into two hour long highlights. Twitch believes that this is the most efficient use of its resources as metrics have shown that view count on videos tends to dramatically drop off after two weeks.
Twitch will be holding an AMA on Reddit later today to answer questions about the changes, and it appears to be an attempt at better transparency from the company.
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