UPDATE - 9/30@10:40PM: The dispute has been settled:
... Scott Jungmichel, president and COO of SESAC, said in a statement to Variety: "We have reached an agreement with YouTube to equitably compensate SESAC's songwriters and publishers for the use of their music. We appreciate the support and patience of our affiliates, as well as the artists who perform those songs." He said that during SESAC's negotiations with YouTube, its affiliates' works "were unilaterally removed by YouTube ahead of the contract end date of October 1, 2024. YouTube has begun the process of reinstating videos featuring these songs." ...
----- snip -----
Songs by Adele, Bob Dylan, Green Day, R.E.M., Burna Boy, Rush and many others are currently blocked on YouTube in the United States due to a legal dispute between YouTube and the performing rights organization SESAC. There's no word on when the dispute might be settled, but similar disputes like this have taken weeks or even months to settle. From Variety:
... A similar dispute between Universal Music Group and TikTok raged on for several months earlier this year before being resolved. In a statement to Variety, a YouTube rep said: "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. We take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible." Reps for SESAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ... Performing rights organizations, such as ASCAP, BMI and SESAC in the U.S., collect royalties and help protect copyrights on behalf of songwriters and music publishers. They have the ability to block certain public performances of music - which entails everything from streaming to radio to music played in restaurants - although such bans are laborious and difficult to enforce, even for a platform as large as YouTube, as evidenced by the seemingly scattered blockage of SESAC material on the platform at the moment. ... Such blocks are a common when rights-holders (such as record labels, publishers and PROs) and a broadcaster cannot come to terms on a licensing agreement, and usually do not last for more than a few days or weeks. However, along with the bruising UMG-TikTok battle earlier this year, one such dispute between YouTube and Warner Music Group resulted in Warner pulling its videos from the platform for some nine months across 2008 and 2009 before terms were reached. ...
The block currently only applies to the United States, and the songs are still available on other platforms. More information as we learn it.
