YouTube removed songs by renowned artists due to a licensing dispute with the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).
According to reports, various famous tracks by artists like Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Mariah Carey, and many others have been stashed from the video streaming platform.
A YouTube spokesperson said they have negotiated genuine with SESAC to renew their existing deal.
However, despite their best efforts, a fair agreement could not be reached before the contract expired. They also take copyright matters very seriously, which is why content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US.
Furthermore, the spokesperson stated that they are actively in discussions with the association and hope to finalize a new agreement soon.
Users attempting to access the affected songs are now greeted with a message saying, “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”
A complete list of the artists and music videos impacted by the YouTube-SESAC dispute has not yet been released.
Meanwhile, the situation is like a dispute between Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok earlier this year. During that time, UMG removed songs by artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Ariana Grande from the platform while negotiating royalty agreements.
SESAC Deal Expired, YouTube Response to Users’ Queries
In an X post, YouTube has responded to users’ questions about videos not steaming on the platform.
The company noted that its license deal with SESAC has expired without a contract on renewal conditions, regardless of its total effort. This resulted in blocking content on YouTube in the US, which is known to be related to the association, as in line with copyright law.
Meanwhile, the video-streaming platform and SESAC have not yet been cleared over when the conflict will be settled and whether users can watch the videos that were blocked in the US.
