New Felony Streaming Measure Not Specifically Aimed at Twitch Streamers

Republican senator Thom Tillis has been hard at work this past month to pass an act that would make streaming copyrighted material a felony, and on Monday Congress approved a new bull that would classify illegal streaming as a felony offense.

However, the passing of the bill doesn’t mean that the federal government will be going after Twitch streamers, or content creators on YouTube, as they will instead be focusing on streaming pirated content, according to The Verge’s Makena Kelly.

“As a general matter, we do not see the need for further criminal penalties for copyright infringement,” Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, stated in an official release issued earlier this month.

In an effort to offer more clarification on the purpose of legislation, here is an official statement for Tillis’ office:

“The Protecting Lawful Streaming Act will apply only to commercial, for-profit streaming piracy services. The law will not sweep in normal practices by online service providers, good faith business disputes, noncommercial activities, or in any way impact individuals who access pirated streams or unwittingly stream unauthorized copies of copyrighted works. Individuals who might use pirate streaming services will not be affected.”

Furthermore, here is a statement issued on Tuesday from Joshua Lamel, the executive director of the Re:Create Coalition:

“This proposal [the incoming DMCA reform] would result in massive legal uncertainties for small businesses, startups and new creators; hurt competition and consumer choice for the next generation of platforms like TikTok and Parler; and lead to significant overblocking of everyday content on the platforms that Americans use every day to work, communicate and have fun,”

For more clarity and information, please refer to the Verge article as well as Kotaku’s coverage right here.