In an article dedicated to influencers’ reactions and comments on TV shows and series, Me Chomiac de Sas was interviewed by Salomé Ferraris, who provided her expertise on the legality of these practices, particularly with regard to intellectual property.
Published on September 21, 2009, the BFM article, titled “‘Three Months to Get Married,’ ‘Four Weddings and a Honeymoon’… TV Show Commentary is a Hit on Twitch (But Irritates the Networks),” outlines the recent practices of the platform/social network featuring influencers reacting to and commenting on audiovisual content found online or on television channels.
Read the full BFM article.
Reacts video: Compare your emotions to those of other internet users
For several years, influencers have been developing content based on sharing videos from the internet, television, or streaming platforms, which they then comment on or react to. A significant advantage for content creators is that such formats require little preparation beforehand and minimal editing and post-production afterward.
While very prevalent on YouTube in the 2000s for commenting on or reacting to other internet videos, its format has gradually evolved to focus on episodes of series or films. Fans film themselves watching series without actually showing the content, allowing viewers to compare their reactions with those of others.
On Twitch, many influencers frequently offer React content on their channels related to their personality and areas of expertise.
In terms of television content, Aminematue comments on shows like “Si on se rencontréait” (M6) and “Trois mois pour se marier,” OceaneAmsler “analyzes” the French show “Quatre mariages pour une lune de miel,” while the streamer Etoile reacts to episodes of “Questions pour un champion.”
During election periods, several influencer channels broadcast political debates, notably between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Eric Zemmour (illegally) and Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen (legally). Some influencers also offer reactions to their own content, several years later, like Antoine Daniel.
Twitch Reacts: Content that exposes the video being watched
Inspired by television, these “Reacts” on Twitch have evolved by integrating the audiovisual content being commented on directly into the video. In an authentic and spontaneous manner—essential criteria for influence on the platform—new and old content are thus dissected by influencers.
It’s striking how Twitch influencers tend to focus these React videos on older shows and series. Far from reflecting their community’s interest in the “Just Price” of the 1980s, the answer to these questionable editorial choices likely lies in the lens of intellectual property and copyright protection.
Indeed, rights holders, often audiovisual production companies, are less discerning or attentive to content that no longer holds economic appeal compared to new series or films currently airing.
Watch Parties. The Twitch platform, owned by Amazon since 2017, implemented a system in recent years allowing its influencers to legally comment on episodes of series and shows related to content from another Amazon Prime service. However, Twitch ended the service in April 2024 due to low viewership.
React Twitch: Without broadcasting rights, a copyright violation
Faced with the growing audiences of social media platforms like Twitch, TikTok, and Kickstarter, television channels and audiovisual production companies have gradually reacted to combat these new forms of content distribution.
Using the services of specialized companies, M6, Canal+, the French Football League, and rights holders have launched waves of notifications to Twitch to suspend and prosecute content that infringes copyright. As a hosting platform, Twitch almost always sides with the rights holders.
For influencers, copyright infringement related to this content has massive professional repercussions: they are exposed to civil and criminal penalties for counterfeiting and unfair competition, as well as disciplinary sanctions from the Twitch platform ranging from content removal to permanent bans from the social network. Months of work and editing can thus be spontaneously deleted without any recourse for the influencers.
React Twitch: a legal exception to copyright?
In defense of these practices, many influencers argue that they fall under legal exceptions to copyright law. As a reminder, Article L122-5 of the French Intellectual Property Code outlines a series of situations in which the use of a work does not require the prior authorization of its author, including:
Performances within the family circle. The law explicitly states that the author cannot prohibit “private and free performances carried out exclusively within a family circle” (Art. L. 122-5 1° CPI). This refers to an audience limited to relatives or close acquaintances. Members of associations, companies, or communities are not considered to constitute a family circle.
Analyses and short quotations. Quotations must be short and justified by their relevance to the work in which they are included. Translating the work in its entirety is prohibited. In addition to respecting the author’s moral rights, the law specifies that the quotation must be justified by its “critical, polemical, educational, scientific, or informational nature in relation to the work” in which it is incorporated. The author may not prohibit analyses either. These analyses, however, must comply with legal requirements. They must not consist of a simple summary of the work. Strict summaries that present a work at greater or lesser length are considered derivative works subject to copyright.
Humorous expression. The Intellectual Property Code also denies the author the right to prohibit “parody, pastiche, and caricature, taking into account the conventions of the genre” (Art. L. 122-5 4°). The legislator thus allows creations or people to be parodied or ridiculed through the misuse of a pre-existing work.
It must be acknowledged that, in this matter, none of the exceptions seem to fully apply to Twitch’s React videos. As reiterated in several articles and interviews by Mr. Chomiac de Sas, while it is possible to reuse another creator’s content, this is only possible if one has acquired the broadcasting rights. Otherwise, it constitutes copyright infringement.
Video Game React: A Justified Tolerance
The Twitch community has historically grown around video game content streamed by creators. Even today, hundreds of hours of live gaming streams and streamer reactions are published daily, covering everything from classic titles to the latest releases, in both traditional and esports formats.
Very few copyright disputes have been identified in this sector, with the exception of music rights cases pursued by SACEM in France. Almost all studios tolerate these practices, seeing them as powerful marketing and promotional tools. Partnerships between Twitch and publishers have helped secure content creation by Twitch influencers. This may explain why some influencers believe they are authorized to stream content without permission.
This policy is explained in particular by the clear separation existing between classic audiovisual content consumed passively and video games, which are interactive by nature, and whose viewing of content does not equate to a gaming experience for the player/consumer.
