The internet thinks Metallica "deserved" to be muted during Twitch Blizzcon because they helped create DMCA

Metallica added fuel to the already raging fire with DMCA takedowns on Twitch. The band's performance at Blizzcon was broadcast without any hindrances on Blizzard's Twitch channel, but the entire performance was muted on Twitch Gaming's channel.

Watching Twitch mute the audio, several streamers followed suit, fearing DMCA strikes. A few on the internet trolled Twitch for such an incident, but others believe that Metallica deserved it because of their role in creating the DMCA monster.

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The internet feels Metallica deserved to be muted.

reminder that metallica was the band that started the whole mp3 lawsuit parade back in the early 2000sI consider this karma

— Pietro Gagliardi (@pgandlabs) February 19, 2021

The contentious incident dates back to the early 2000s, when Napster was a popular music sharing platform. Metallica sued Napster for copyright infringement.

As part of the lawsuit, Napster was asked to remove the entire Metallica music catalog from their platform. Furthermore, they were also asked to ban all the people who had downloaded music from their platform. The number of users to have downloaded their music then was estimated to be around 330,000.

The lawsuit was one of the building blocks for DMCA as we know it today. In a sort of poetic justice, the band's actions two decades ago came back to haunt them.

You know DMCA is a problem when Twitch has to cut the music of Metallica while Metallica is playing 🤦🏽‍♂️

— Goldenboy (@GoldenboyFTW) February 19, 2021

Right now the official Twitch Gaming channel is playing copyright free music over the top of Metallica's live Blizzcon performance, so at to avoid copyright striking themselves. The absolute state of music rights on the internet. My god.

— Skill Up (@SkillUpYT) February 19, 2021

Metallica not being able to play their own music live because of DMCA that came about in large part due to Metallica's advocacy of it is a hell of a full circle.

— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️‍🌈 (@cmclymer) February 20, 2021

The hilarity of the dominos being traced back and Metallica being the root cause of this is very good, regardless of outcome.

— Citizen of Avatar Country (Kyle) (@RestlessMonarch) February 20, 2021

Overall, the internet believes that DMCA was the worst thing to happen to streaming. The Twitch-DMCA issue has been raging since the middle of 2020, when streamers were asked to delete all VODs containing copyrighted music. Failure to do so would result in a copyright strike.

The issue is that streams on Twitch are heavily clipped. Despite deleting the main VOD, the clips remain online. So it's practically impossible to track down those clips. The chances are that streamers will still be handed a copyright strike, making the situation more problematic.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAMetallica, right now: "Well well well if it isn't the consequences of my own actions"This is fucking hilarious. Wow. Holy shit. This. Wow. Wowwww. XD

— Rachel But Spooky (@RachelTheParrot) February 20, 2021

The red wedding but it's Twitch DMCAing Metallica and saying "Napster sends their regards"

— Thought Slime (@ThoughtSlime) February 20, 2021

The internet holds the band responsible for the current situation of the music scene on the internet. Streamers have a tough time streaming with music because it's not easy to come across quality royalty-free music.

God the Metallica Napster debacle coming back to bite them in the ass. Karma looking so cute right now

— Eddie🏥☀🎀✈ (Semi-H for Brain Injury) (@intaminblitz) February 20, 2021

Twitch: “LET’S HAVE METALLICA STREAM THEMSELVES PLAYING A COUPLE SONGS!! It will be tight!”*Twitch remembers their DCMA policy*“O FUQ!” pic.twitter.com/Doy0tB50KT

— Santos (@Chantosss14) February 20, 2021

I love Metallica. Always will. But man, you can't help but laugh at the irony.

— Geoff Baier (@GeoffBaier) February 20, 2021

It was hilarious to watch Metallica perform while some 8-bit music was used to cover up their performance. However, given that live events aren't feasible, virtual events are what people have to settle for. Incidents like these make it very difficult for people on the internet to enjoy music.