EU’s 13th regulation could wipe Twitch Stream from Europe

Amazon’s livestreaming platform, Twitch, is one of the most popular destinations for gamers, with multiple reports showing it has attracted more viewers than both HBO and Netflix. However, its success and growth could soon be threatened in Europe.

Concerns about Twitch in Europe stem from new copyright regulations called “European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market”, which are currently being considered by many European countries. In it, there is “The 13th Law”. It requires platforms with user-generated content (including Twitch and YouTube) to “ensure unlicensed protected content cannot appear on their services.” Failure to comply will result in Twitch, YouTube, etc. copyright infringement caused by users.

The reason the Law of 13 has so many people fearing for the future of Twitch in Europe is because of the difficulty in detecting piracy. Even Twitch’s automatic music detection system isn’t always accurate.

As a result, some worry that if Twitch cannot find a way to control copyright, it will be forced to withdraw from the EU. The EU bloc includes countries such as Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and although the UK is about to leave the EU (Brexit), they will still follow this law for a while after officially leaving the Union.

At the moment, we don’t know if it really happened. Law 13 – as well as new copyright regulations – is yet to be applied by EU members. Before that happens, the law needs to be passed by the European parliament (election to take place in January 2019). Since then, members have two years to introduce new electoral-appropriate laws, though each country may interpret the rules slightly differently.

Law 13 could hold up the gaming industry, and if Twitch and YouTube both disappear, it means community video game trailers and livestreams won’t be available in Europe. This directly affects the income of game makers and the fans who make videos about them. Therefore, this rule will certainly be strongly opposed by gamers and game makers before the voting begins.

Source: EUR-Lex