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Are Twitch Emotes Copyrighted?

Twitch emotes are a popular form of digital content used on the streaming platform Twitch.tv. Many users use these emotes to communicate with each other while watching live streams or playing video games online. While many people believe that twitch emotes are just harmless fun, there have been some concerns raised about their legality. Is it illegal to make and use twitch emotes? And if so, what consequences could this have for you? Although no official ruling has been made in this regard, there is growing concern among legal experts that certain twitch emotes may be copyright infringing under various applicable laws. If you create or use an emoji-based “twitch Emote” (e.g.

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Twitch, Inc. (aka Twitch Interactive, Twitch Labs, and Twitch TV) is a live streaming service headquartered in San Francisco, California. It transmits video game streams and other types of live content from its users' personal computers as well as embedded mini-games and messaging services, in a format that viewers can view in a web browser on computer, mobile devices, televisions, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Apple products, and some smart TVs.

Twitch Inc. claims that its emotes (also known as "emotes") are protected by US copyright law, and that users may not use such emotes without permission from Twitch. The difficulty in ascertaining whether the use of emotes constitutes an infringement of copyright has led to a great deal of litigation between Twitch and users.

While there is no definitive answer at present, it is likely that the use of twitch emotes without permission may be an infringing act under US copyright law. However, given the presence of fair use restrictions and the limitation of copyright protection to "original works of authorship," it is unclear whether the use of such emotes in YouTube videos would be permissible without the explicit consent of Twitch.

It is likely that the use of twitch emotes without permission may be an infringing act under US copyright law.

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