Fortnite Marshmello Event And Copyright Strikes: What Streamers Need To Know

The massive popularity of Epic Games' Fortnite battle royale game has been the catalyst for more than a couple successful streaming careers. These streamers often draw higher than usual audience numbers during big in-game events, such as the rocket launch and, more recently, the blizzard. The company's next big event is a live DJ Marshmello concert that will take place in Pleasant Park, but it has raised some concerns about copyright issues.

Popular streaming destinations — namely YouTube — have automatic copyright protection technologies in place that can, in some cases, flag videos that feature copyrighted content. YouTube has two varieties of potential problems: Content ID claims, which can result from something as simple as a song playing on a radio in the background, and copyright strikes, which are valid complaints against videos from the copyright holders.

Though a Content ID claim doesn't result in a copyright strike, it could result in the video being taken down; if the video remains, any advertisement revenue generated by the content will go to the copyright owners. Copyright strikes are a bit more serious — these are warnings applied to an account that jeopardizes its ability to be monetized.

Streamers, particularly those who depend on their accounts for their full-time income, are understandably cautious when it comes to publishing videos that may have any sort of copyrighted content. For this reason, many players have been expressing concerns regarding copyright strikes and Epic's upcoming Fortnite Marshmello event.

In a statement on Thursday evening, Epic Games revealed that it has worked out a deal with Marshmello's team to make sure that Fortnite streamers won't be hit with copyright strikes for broadcasting videos with the copyrighted audio content. That's a relief for streamers, but there is one downside: you won't be able to monetize the videos featuring this in-game event.