xQc First Kick Ban

On Kick, xQc couldn’t have had a worse opening. After watching The Dark Knight in its entirety during his first-ever live yesterday, the platform’s star signing may be subject to a ban.

A Kick staff member entered the conversation on June 19 and pinned a message saying: “We would like to notify you that streaming the specific content is in violation of our DMCA policy. Therefore, we kindly ask you to stop your live stream and be aware that we will need to remove the current VOD containing this content.” The movie was immediately halted streaming on xQc, which acknowledged that the quick action of the site “made sense.” The entire VOD, including the video, was quickly taken down. It made no mention of a ban, but in accordance with Kick’s DMCA policy, if he repeats the offense, his channel may be suspended, just like Twitch does. 

Adin Ross controversially streamed the Super Bowl on Kick on February 12 without suffering any sort of punishment, and it led to the incident. Co-owner of the platform and official spokesperson Trainwreck claimed that there was a “unique circumstance” in that situation, but he wouldn’t specify what it was. Additionally, he claimed that DMCA regulations do exist on Kick and will be upheld. That lesson was hard-learned by xQc. The big two-year, non-exclusive contract that the juicer warlord inked with the site will pay him $70 million, with the possibility of an additional $100 million if he meets specific incentive thresholds. That might be in jeopardy if there are too many DMCA strikes, but it appears that xQc was only testing the waters with his first stream and won’t do it again. 

Kick is not the lawless site that some may anticipate. Since coming into the scene in late 2022, it has proven to be a powerful competitor to Twitch and YouTube. As a result, it is now the subject of increasing scrutiny, including DMCA claims, and must follow the regulations just like everyone else.