In the midst of the DMCA drama, which escalated last year, Nick ‘NICKMERCS’ Kolcheff has deleted all of his VODs and clips. FaZe Clan’s superstar streamer also raised questions over the recent copyright strikes.
On May 28, Twitch received “about 1,000 individual claims” for DMCA strikes against content creators on the platform, surrounding VODs, and clips that featured copyrighted music.
Twitch claims it is teaming up with music labels and leaving no stone unturned in a bid to find a solution. However, NICKMERCS have preemptively responded.
After deleting all of his VODs and clips, the streamer addressed the situation. Nick’s deletion is quite disappointing erasure of popular content for MFAM members and fans.
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Responding to that disappointment, FaZe co-owner explained why Twitch isn’t to blame and why the DMCA debacle is a mess.
.@NICKMERCS has deleted all clips and vods due to DMCA
“when a guy like me plays a song to 50-60k people, you’d be surprised of the effect that has on something.. typically when people want their songs played like that, they have to pay. That’s for free. We’re just doing it” https://t.co/sVHRgRBP8M pic.twitter.com/2bPVS8hQBx
— Wicked Good Gaming (@WickedGoodGames) May 28, 2021
The DMCA situation revolves around record labels wanting to be paid for the usage of their artists’ music. With Twitch and the platform’s streamers becoming more profitable, DMCA strikes have risen.
The backlash against these strikes is that streamers are offering free exposure – a notable point elaborate by NICKMERCS during his May 28 stream.
“At the end of the day, what’s going to get these artists paid is people listening to their music. And when a guy like me plays a song to 50-60,000 people … typically, when people want their songs played like that, they have to pay.”
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Nick said the issue of licensing needs to be handled by Twitch. He was even intrigued by other, unconventional solutions.
Nick about to start a MFAM record label? ? https://t.co/485kSpm9w3 pic.twitter.com/iEDaxywnEN
— Wicked Good Gaming (@WickedGoodGames) May 28, 2021
He isn’t willing to blame the Amazon-owned platform or the music industry for the situation. NICKMERCS says he is open to all alternatives. “Maybe we should have our own label … an MFAM label.”
It is still unclear how far Twitch’s conversation has gotten with record labels. So, it appears the NICKMERCS VODs and clips will remain deleted.
