In a recent turn of events this Saturday, September 27, major artists like Adele, Bob Dylan, and Kendrick Lamar had their songs blocked on YouTube over a copyright dispute. The problem stems from an ongoing issue between the Google-owned company and the publishing rights organization SESAC.
People trying to play the songs from any of these artists were met with an error followed by the message: “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.” Readers must note that such errors usually occur when a video or music is region-blocked by copyright holders.
The copyright issue comes almost a week before the previous agreement between YouTube and SESAC expires.
The video platform is reportedly trying to negotiate a better deal with SESAC as it is a much smaller copyright holder than BMI or ASCAP. The SESAC licenses over 1.5 million music compositions from over 15,000 singers, songwriters, and composers affiliated with the organization.
All you need to know about the YouTube and SESAC copyright dispute
The copyright dispute between YouTube and SESAC affects many, but not all music that artists affiliated with the organization have on the video-sharing platform.
The problem has made music from Green Day, Mariah Carey, R.E.M., Ariana Grande, and Zac Brown, to be unplayable in the United States. The other artists affected by the issue include - Rosanne Cash, David Crosby, Kesha, Nirvana, Burna Roy, Margo Price, J Cole, Coheed, and others.
Talking to Variety on September 27, a YouTube representative briefed on the current developments in the matter:
"We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an equitable agreement before its expiration."
Reassuring people that the two parties may reach a new deal soon, the representative continued:
"We take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the U.S. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible."
As of the writing, there are no speculations about how long it may take for the two parties to reach a favorable agreement. Neither the SESAC representatives nor the affected artists have shared any comments on the matter.
Performing rights organizations like BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC in the U.S. protect copyrights and collect royalties on behalf of their affiliate artists. They hold the authority to block public performances of music content from their affiliates that may harm the interests of the artists or violate the copyrights.
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TikTok and the Universal Music Group went through a similar dispute over royalties in January 2024, leading to hundreds of songs being removed from the ByteDance app. The matter was officially settled in May when TikTok accepted UMG's terms, including better remuneration for artists and improved engagement opportunities.
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