Since Saturday, some YouTube videos with songs by Adele, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, and R.E.M. have not been able to be played in the United States.
Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” is one example. If you try to play it, whether it’s the album version or a live performance, you are told, “This video contains content from SESAC.” You can’t get it in your country. There are times when you can even watch an ad before the news.
Not all videos of these acts are blocked, though. It’s not clear if the videos that can be played are not affected by the current dispute or if they were just missed.
YouTube said in news releases and on social media that the problem was due to failed talks with SESAC, a group that says it works with more than 35,000 music publishers and artists.
It was unfortunate that, despite our best efforts, we couldn’t come to a fair deal before it ended, YouTube said. This is because we take copyright very seriously: material owned by SESAC is no longer on YouTube in the US. We’re talking with SESAC right now and hope to make a deal soon.
This is similar to a fight that Universal Music Group had with TikTok earlier this year. While it was talking over royalties, UMG took songs by artists like Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and Taylor Swift off of the short-form video platform.
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SESAC is not a record company like UMG. Instead, it is a group like ASCAP and BMI that collects royalties for songwriters and publishers. It also works with Burna Boy, George Clinton, Kenny Rogers, Kings of Leon, and many more acts besides those listed above.
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