DragonForce’s Herman Li banned from Twitch amid DMCA drama

Popular music streamer and DragonForce guitarist Herman Li has had his Twitch account banned on October 27, with the reason still unknown.

In a shock move, Twitch has suspended popular musician Herman Li from streaming on the platform, which he uses to provide insight into the life of professional musicians, as well as to shred his guitar like the metal God that he is.

Known for being the lead guitarist of Grammy-winning heavy rock group DragonForce – the masterminds behind the infamous ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ that dominated every Guitar Hero players’ childhood, Li has been praised over the years for his musical talents.

The guitarist has become somewhat of an icon on the platform, so it shocked fans to see his channel was no longer available.

Is this a DMCA ban?

At the time of writing, the reason for Li’s ban is unknown. Twitch does not comment on moderation decisions as a matter of privacy.

Speculation though, is that the artist has been banned as part of the new wave of DMCA strikes that have been sweeping across Twitch. As a musical streamer, DMCA makes the lives of musicians particularly difficult. Many have and may be banned in the future due to these new regulations – even if they are playing their own music.

In April, Li was livid as Universal muted his music on YouTube.

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Neither Li nor Twitch have elaborated on why the ban has taken place. No matter the reason though, this news comes will come as a shock to both Li and his fans, especially when he addressed the Twitch ban situation directly on stream back in June, reassuring other streamers that using his band’s music would not result in a DMCA strike.

Li stated that: “We know all these crazy things are happening on Twitch, people getting banned, people getting taken down, DMCA, I can tell you, you can play any song from the latest DragonForce album, Extreme Power Metal, and you will not get a strike. I assure you, you will be ok. Because we are very good friends with our people from the record label, who also love Twitch, so you will not have a problem.”

Li was unbanned on the 30 October, however there has been no further discussion as to why the ban took place.