Aiming to curb DMCAs, CDPR builds copyrighted music toggle into Cyberpunk 2077

CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 comes with a soundtrack featuring a good amount of licensed music, which unfortunately leads to complications once the game is released out into the world and starts showing up on streaming platforms.

As CD Projekt Red notes in a recent blog post, songs approved for in-game use aren't always ok'd for use in live streams or videos published of gameplay online. Aiming to allay any potential issues players might have on the DMCA front, CDPR has built a setting into the game that'll turn off any of Cyberpunk 2077's tracks that aren't approved for use in external videos.

It's a move other studios have taken in the past, and one that almost seems necessary for games looking to capture a large audience through content creators on platforms like Twitch or YouTube.

"Unfortunately, the world of copyright law is complicated and not all of these songs can be streamed or used in your video content," reads the post. "The last thing we want is for you to run into any copyright issues. Because of this, we have created a dedicated feature for content creators. The 'Disable Copyrighted Music' toggle, available in the game’s settings, will disable a small portion of in-game tracks, streaming of which could otherwise result in demonetization or takedowns of your videos or stream clips/VODs."

CDPR goes on to say that flipping the copyrighted music switch should prevent content creators from running into any music rights-related issues, but encourages any that still see trouble to reach out to its legal department via email.

Twitch in particular has tightened up its music rights enforcement as of late following a sudden wave of DMCAs fired off at archived stream videos containing copyrighted music either in the background or through in-game radios like the one featured in Cyberpunk 2077.