Image credit: Alexander Shatov

Google has sent a cease and desist to the popular Discord music bot Groovy.

YouTube (via Google) has started to crack down on Discord music bots, which are incredibly popular on the chat platform. The tech giant sent a cease and desist to the owners of the popular Groovy Bot, which allows Discord users to play music from YouTube videos. The bot is installed on more than 16 million Discord servers. Google has demanded that the service ceases within seven days and Groovy is complying by shutting down its bot on August 30th. 

Google confirmed that it took action in the case via The Verge, saying: “We notified Groovy about violations of our Terms of Service, including modifying the service and using it for commercial purposes.”

Speaking on the cease and desist, creator and founder of Groovy, Nik Ammerlaan said: “Groovy has been a huge part of my life over the past five years. It started because my friend’s bot sucked and I thought I could make a better one.” Adding: “I’m not sure why they decided to send it [a cease and desist] now. They probably just didn’t know about it, to be honest.”

Nik also commented that it was “just a matter of seeing when it would happen.” 

The Groovy bot supports Spotify, YouTube, Soundcloud, and other services, but most of its music comes from YouTube. This is likely to be a domino effect and will affect other music bots on Discord. 

One said example is the most popular music bot Rythm, which is used by 560 million users and installed on 20 million Discord servers. However, they have yet to receive a cease and desist from Google, but one would imagine it’s coming. 

In a statement to The Verge, a Discord spokesperson said: “We take the rights of others seriously and require developers who create bots for Discord to do the same.” Adding: “If a bot running on Discord violates someone else’s rights, that third party or Discord may take action.”