Twitch Dubs Metallica Stream to Avoid Copyright Issues

Call it “For Whom the Bell Trolls.”

Metallica performed last night (February 19) as part of BlizzCon 2021. Because this year’s BlizzCon, like most events, is being held remotely, the band’s performance was streamed live on Twitch from the band’s HQ in California.

Unfortunately, according to Twitter, the performance did not go off without a hitch:

“The metal titans were in the midst of performing … when viewers on the Twitch Gaming stream noticed that the audio was suddenly overdubbed by generic music. The decision was likely prompted by copyright concerns, as record labels have warned Twitch users to avoid using archived clips. Fans were quick to note that Metallica played a role in shaping these copyright concerns during their legal battle with Napster nearly two decades ago.”

Below, watch video of the band’s undisrupted performance of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” as well as video of the band being overdubbed with generic music by Twitch.

Metallica have not commented on the incident.