Songs by artists like Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Green Day, and Mariah Carey, among others, are currently unavailable on YouTube due to a contract dispute between the platform and SESAC, a performing rights organization.
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| Chris McGrath/Getty Images |
In a statement to Reporter on Saturday, a YouTube spokesperson said, “We have engaged in good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we couldn't reach a fair agreement before the contract expired.
We take copyright seriously, and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer accessible on YouTube in the US. We are actively discussing with SESAC and hope to secure a new deal soon.”
Some users attempting to play songs by these artists received this message: “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
SESAC, which operates in the U.S., collects royalties and protects copyrights on behalf of songwriters and publishers. According to its website, “SESAC currently licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs for its 15,000+ affiliated songwriters, composers, and music publishers, which include names like Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, RUSH, Adele, Jack Harlow, Ariana Grande, Disclosure, Zac Brown, Rosanne Cash, Hillary Scott of Lady A, Lee Brice, Margo Price, Nicky Jam, Blanco Brown, and many more.”
Throughout Saturday, the TeamYouTube account on X (formerly Twitter) responded to users' frustrations, explaining, “Our music license agreement with SESAC expired without a renewal agreement, despite our best efforts.
As a result, we've blocked SESAC-associated content on YouTube in the US, in accordance with copyright law.”
Reporter also reached out to SESAC for comment.
A similar situation occurred earlier this year when Universal Music Group and TikTok were in a legal dispute over music licensing. For several months, some artists' music was unavailable on TikTok until a new agreement was finally reached.
