Thousands of songs Hundreds of artists' music videos have disappeared from YouTube after the video site failed to reach a new agreement with copyright organization SESAC.
Artists such as Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Mariah Carey, Green Day and hundreds of others have been affected by the impasse that arose as SESAC's deal with YouTube neared expiration.
“We have been in good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our current deal. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a fair agreement before it expired,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday. Hollywood Reporter.
“We take copyright seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active discussions with SESAC and hope to reach a new agreement as soon as possible.
Among the songs and videos removed from YouTube during the dispute was Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” with only unofficial uploads remaining on the site. In fact, every studio recording and music video has been deleted from Nirvana's official YouTube channel, with only the band's name deleted MTV Unplugged And other live shows remaining on the page. (For many affected artists, live performances are infringed from a copyright perspective and remain on YouTube.)
Some of Nirvana's officially uploaded videos, like “Come As You Are,” remain searchable on YouTube, but are unplayable: “The video is not available. This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country,” a disclaimer notes. Responsibility.
Would you like to watch the video for Bob Dylan's song “Subterranean Homesick Blues”? The video is “not available”. Likewise, every Adele song and music video leading up to her latest album 30 Removed from YouTube, including “Hello”, “Chasing Pavements” and more.
SESAC, which “currently licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs on behalf of more than 15,000 of its songwriters, composers and music publishers,” has not yet commented on the YouTube dispute.
