If you're a steamer who has been using the Cyberpunk 2077 music in your broadcasts with "Disable Copyrighted Music" Streamer Mode, you still may be at risk of a DMCA according to CD Projekt Red.
Cyberpunk 2077 has been available for less than a day and there have been a fair few problems already. Players have been reporting all sorts of bugs, but one particular issue will likely affect the people streaming the game — it appears that some of the "safe" music available in Streamer Mode could still get you hit with a DMCA.
Disabling Copyrighted Cyberpunk 2077 Music Isn't Quite Safe
Cyberpunk 2077 music should largely avoid any DMCA problems; the tracks that could cause an issue are supposed to be eliminated by selecting the "Disable Copyrighted Music" streamer mode. Unfortunately, it seems that CDPR may have missed including a few tracks in this option, running the risk of streamers getting hit with a copyright strike or DMCA takedown.
"We just noticed there's a song in the game which might put a DMCA strike on your channel even when playing with 'Disable Copyrighted Music' option on," read last night's tweet from the game's official account. "While we work on fixing it, please make sure to turn the sound off during the first two Braindance sequences. Apologies!"
That's some pretty bad news for streamers, but at least it was that only one section of the game. Unfortunately, a subsequent tweet released today has resulted in a change of course from CD Projekt Red who is now advising streamers to disable music entirely to play it safe.
"Fix is on the way but until then, we'd like to ask you to mute music in the game's settings entirely." – CD Projekt Red
"It has come to our attention that there are additional instances in the game which might put a DMCA strike on your channel," read today's follow-up tweet from CDPR. "Fix is on the way but until then, we'd like to ask you to mute music in the game's settings entirely. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused."
I took on the topic of streaming a game's music when I interviewed Rebel Galaxy Outlaw creator Erich Schaefer back in 2018; he explained that developers actually need to secure specific "streaming" rights for music so that players who are livestreaming the game won't get hit with a DMCA. The DMCA landscape has always been a minefield, though, and CD Projekt Red could potentially be having problems even if they've correctly secured these rights.
For now, anyone who is streaming the game should take care to disable music entirely until CD Projekt Red has a fix in place.
How have you been enjoying Cyberpunk 2077? What do you think of the game's music? Let us know in the comments below!
