A DMCA strike on Twitch means a rights holder sent Twitch a complete takedown notice. Twitch removes the flagged content, emails you the claimant's details, and records one copyright strike on your channel. Three strikes and Twitch terminates the account. A strike can come off through Copyright School, a retraction from the claimant, or a valid counter-notification.
If you're reading this, the email already landed. It names a claimant and a piece of content, and it's written in legal language because it's a legal notice. The good news: one strike is recoverable, and the steps are predictable once you know the order they come in.
This guide covers the difference between a strike and a muted VOD, what happens after the notice arrives, the three ways to clear a strike, how long strikes last, what to do with your archive, and how to keep the next one off your channel. If you're still getting your bearings on the basics, start with our overview of Twitch music rules.
Starting over after a strike?
Pick tracks for your next broadcast from Soundstripe's library with the Soundstripe Twitch extension.
What a Twitch copyright strike is (and what it isn't)
A Twitch copyright strike is the penalty Twitch records on a channel after it receives a complete DMCA notification from a rights holder and no counter-notification or retraction follows. It is not the same as a muted VOD. Muting happens when Twitch's audio detection flags stored audio; a strike happens when a person or agent formally claims the content infringes their copyright.
The notice that starts all this is a formal legal request, and the mechanism behind it is the same one behind DMCA takedown requests on every major platform. Under Twitch's DMCA Guidelines, a strike is generally recorded when Twitch receives a complete notification and doesn't receive a complete counter-notification or a retraction.
Which Twitch email did you get?
Read the subject line and the body for one detail: a claimant. A strike email forwards the rights holder's notice, including who sent it and an email address to reach them. An audio warning comes from Twitch's own detection system, not from a rights holder, so there's no claimant behind it. If there's no claimant, there's no strike, though the music that triggered the warning is still worth pulling from your archive.
What happens after a DMCA strike on Twitch, in order
After a DMCA strike on Twitch, events run in a fixed order. Twitch emails you the notice and the claimant's contact details, logs the claim in your Copyright Claims Manager, and removes or disables the flagged VOD, Clip, or other content. If you're eligible, you'll also get an invitation to Copyright School, which you have 28 days to complete.
The email and your Copyright Claims Manager
The Twitch email includes the claimant's contact email, and the same contact appears in your Copyright Claims Manager. Save the email. Everything you might do next, from asking for a retraction to filing a counter-notification, starts with the details in it.
The content comes down (and what happens if you're live)
Twitch generally removes or disables access to the recorded content named in the notice. If the claimed infringement is still happening when the notice arrives, Twitch may disable the live stream and suspend the account. That's the part most streamers don't expect, and it's why the rights you hold for the broadcast matter as much as the rights for the recording. Our guide to music licensing for live streaming explains how those rights split.
The 28-day Copyright School window
If you're eligible to clear the strike through Copyright School, you'll get an invitation by email and as a banner at the top of twitch.tv. You have 28 days from the day you receive the strike to finish it. Miss the window and that route is gone for this strike.
Disputed notices don't count yet
If you file a counter-notification, the disputed notification generally won't qualify as a strike under Twitch's policy until you and the rights holder resolve the dispute. Filing doesn't make the problem go away. It pauses the clock while the legal process plays out.
Three ways to clear a Twitch copyright strike
There are three ways to clear a copyright strike on Twitch. Complete Copyright School when Twitch invites you, which removes one strike and is available once every 12 months. Ask the claimant to retract the notice. Or file a counter-notification if the content was removed by mistake or misidentification, knowing your contact details go to the claimant.
Copyright School
Copyright School is three videos, supporting text, and a quiz. Pass it after an invitation and one strike comes off your channel. Two limits matter. It works once every 12 months, and taking the course on your own from Creator Camp, without the invitation, removes nothing (it also doesn't use up your eligibility). Twitch says most eligible streamers are invited after a first or second strike; details are in Twitch's Copyright School chapter.
Ask the claimant for a retraction
If the claimant made a mistake, or you have a license they didn't know about, email them at the address in the notice and ask them to retract it. Rights holders sometimes honor these. Once the claimant sends Twitch a retraction, Twitch removes the strike and any associated penalties. If you're licensing tracks to use copyrighted music on Twitch, keep the license documents where you can find them in two minutes; they're what makes a retraction request credible.
File a counter-notification, and know what you're signing
A counter-notification is a legal document, not an appeal button. You swear under penalty of perjury that the content was removed by mistake or misidentification, you consent to a federal court's jurisdiction, and your contact details go straight to the claimant. The U.S. Copyright Office's Section 512 guide lays out the same requirements every platform follows. Knowingly misrepresenting that something was removed by mistake creates liability for the other side's damages, costs, and attorneys' fees under 17 U.S.C. § 512. Talk to a lawyer before you file.
Twitch's rules apply to every account worldwide, but the counter-notification process runs on US law. If you're outside the US, your consent covers the federal district where Twitch can be found.
How to file a counter-notification on Twitch
- Confirm the removal was a mistake or misidentification
A counter-notification is only for content removed by mistake or misidentification, which Twitch says includes exceptions such as fair use. If you hold a license for the track, this is your route. If you played the song without permission, it isn't, and filing anyway puts a false sworn statement on record.
- Collect the content URLs and claimant name from the notice
Pull the URL of every VOD, Clip, or other item named in the notice, plus the claimant's name as it appears in the notice. Twitch requires both in a counter-notification.
- Write out your channel, legal name, address, phone, and email
Twitch requires your channel name, full legal name, email address, full postal address, and phone number with international code. All of it is shared with the claimant. If that's a concern, an authorized representative such as an attorney can submit on your behalf.
- Add the sworn statement and court-jurisdiction consent
State under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief the material was removed by mistake or misidentification. Then consent to the federal district court for your address (or, outside the US, the district where Twitch can be found) and agree to accept service of process from the claimant.
- Email the counter-notification to dmca-notifications@twitch.tv
Send it to dmca-notifications@twitch.tv. Twitch reviews whether it meets the legal requirements, not who's right, and forwards it to the claimant.
- Watch for a lawsuit notice during the 10 to 14 business day window
Under the DMCA, a platform restores countered material after no less than 10 and no more than 14 business days unless the claimant reports that it has filed a court action. Twitch says it generally removes the strike once it receives a complete counter-notification unless that lawsuit notice arrives.
One more thing an accepted counter-notification won't do: stop the next notice. The same rights holder can file again over a different use of the same track, which happens when a license covers one use and not another.
Do Twitch copyright strikes expire? And what happens at three
Twitch copyright strikes do expire, but Twitch doesn't publish how long that takes. Its guidance says the date the strike was issued and the account's standing both affect when it drops off. Until then, it counts. Three strikes on an account make it a repeat infringer under Twitch's policy, and Twitch terminates that account's access to the service.
Why Twitch won't give you a date
Twitch's position is that strikes stay on an account long enough for it to judge whether the account holder is a repeat infringer. Its Creator Camp guidance says it can't share more specifics. Any article that gives you a fixed number of days for Twitch is guessing. Plan as if the strike is there until you've removed it yourself.
How that differs from YouTube
YouTube is the opposite: a copyright strike expires after 90 days, and a first strike requires its own Copyright School, according to YouTube's strikes FAQ. If you stream on Twitch and post highlights on YouTube, you're running two different clocks. Our breakdown of copyright strikes on YouTube covers that side.
What three strikes means
At three strikes, Twitch treats you as a repeat infringer and terminates the account. Twitch also reserves the right to terminate accounts that act against its Terms of Service regardless of how many strikes are involved, so a clean strike tally isn't a guarantee on its own.
What to do with your VODs and Clips after a strike
Saved VODs and Clips are where rights holders have aimed most of their Twitch notices, because a recording keeps the music findable long after the stream ends. Clearing old content can lower the odds of the next notice. It won't undo the last one: Twitch lists Copyright School, a retraction, and a counter-notification as the ways a strike comes off, and deleting a VOD isn't on that list.
This isn't new. In 2020, Twitch reported that more than 99% of the music notifications it reviewed were for tracks streamers played in the background, and told streamers to review and delete VODs and Clips with music in them (Twitch's November 2020 guidance on music claims). Work backward from the notice: find the track and claimant it names, then search your archive for every stream where that track or that artist played. Clips and highlights count, not only full VODs. If you're rebuilding the background music for future streams, start with royalty free music for Twitch.
Keeping a second strike off your channel
The way to keep a second Twitch copyright strike off your channel is to stop putting uncleared music into anything Twitch saves. That means music you own or have licensed for streams and recordings, in-game music turned off when a game ships with licensed tracks, and an archive check before you clip or export old broadcasts.
Routing music to the live mix but out of the VOD reduces what gets saved, but it doesn't license the live broadcast; if you don't have the rights, the stream itself is still exposed. Check whether the games you play have a streamer mode that swaps licensed songs out. And before you clip a moment or export a broadcast to another platform, listen to what's under it. For the setup side, see our guide on how to play music on Twitch.
Music for your next stream
Browse Soundstripe's Twitch playlists, or search 120k tracks for the background your broadcast needs.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Twitch copyright strikes expire, but Twitch doesn't publish a timeline; the issue date and your account's standing affect when one drops off. You can remove a strike sooner by completing Copyright School when invited, getting a retraction from the claimant, or filing a valid counter-notification.
Three copyright strikes make an account a repeat infringer under Twitch's policy, and Twitch terminates that account's access to the service. Strikes that have expired, been retracted, or been removed through Copyright School or a counter-notification don't count toward the three.
No. When Twitch's audio detection finds copyrighted audio in a VOD, it mutes that portion automatically, and that isn't a DMCA notification or a strike. A strike only follows a complete DMCA notification from a rights holder, though the music behind a mute can still draw one later.
Yes, if the claim was valid. A counter-notification is a sworn statement made under penalty of perjury. You consent to federal court jurisdiction, your contact details go to the claimant, and the claimant can sue to keep the content down. File one only when the removal was a genuine mistake.
No. Twitch lists Copyright School, a retraction, and a counter-notification as the ways a strike comes off, alongside expiry. Deleting the VOD isn't on that list. It can still help, because clearing old content with unlicensed music lowers the odds of the next notice.
