That "DMCA Notification" email means a rights holder formally claimed something in your content — almost always music. Twitch operates a repeat-infringer policy: strikes accumulate, and enough of them can mean losing your channel permanently. One strike is a warning shot. Here's how to respond to it.
1. Don't panic — and don't ignore it
One strike almost never ends a channel. A pattern of them does. The streamers who get permanently suspended are usually the ones who shrugged off the first notice and kept the same habits. Treat this one as the cheap lesson.
2. Read the notification carefully
It identifies the claimed work and the content it appeared in (a VOD, a clip). That tells you exactly where your leak is — a playlist you ran, a game's licensed soundtrack, a video you reacted to. Knowing the source is how you actually fix it.
3. Delete the infringing VODs and clips — all of them
Remove the claimed content, then go further: clear out anyVODs and clips that contain the same music. Old archives are scannable evidence that can generate fresh strikes long after the stream ended. Twitch's tools let you mass-delete clips and past broadcasts — if your back catalog is full of music, a clean sweep is the safe move.
4. Only counter-notify if you genuinely have the rights
The counter-notification process exists for actual mistakes — you licensed the track, you own it, it's your original work. It's a legal statement, not a "please undo this" button. If the music was playing and you didn't have rights to broadcast it, the claim is valid; take the hit and fix the leak instead.
5. Fix the leak so there's never a second strike
- Stop routing music into your stream. Keep Spotify/YouTube off captured audio; use stream-safe music for ambiance.
- Restructure OBS so music sits on its own mutable source and your VOD track stays clean — the exact settings are in our OBS DMCA guide.
- Automate the catch.The strike you just got probably came from a song you didn't consciously choose to broadcast. StreamHushlistens for copyrighted music and mutes it off your stream in about two seconds — before it reaches the broadcast or the VOD — then un-mutes when it ends. Your mic is never touched. It turns "I hope I notice in time" into a non-event.
The takeaway
A first strike is recoverable: delete the evidence, find the leak, change the setup. What you don't get to do is keep streaming the same way and hope. Make the music on your stream either licensed or automatically muted, and this is the last DMCA email you'll deal with.