Adele and Kendrick Lamar songs banned from YouTube due to legal dispute

Songs by Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Green Day and Mariah Carey, among others, are currently unavailable on YouTube due to a contract dispute between the platform and SESAC, a performance rights organization.

A YouTube spokesperson shared a statement The Hollywood Reporter on Saturday: “We have been negotiating in good faith with SESAC to extend our existing contract. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a fair agreement before the deadline. We take copyright very seriously and therefore the content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the United States. We are in active discussions with SESAC and hope to reach a new agreement as soon as possible.”

Some songs from multiple artists displayed the following message when attempting to play them: “This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”

SESAC in the US collects royalties and helps protect copyrights on behalf of songwriters and publishers. The organization’s website said: “SESAC currently licenses the public performance of more than 1.5 million songs on behalf of its over 15,000 affiliated songwriters, composers and music publishers, including such household names as Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, RUSH, Adele, Jack Harlow, Ariana Grande, Disclosure, Zac Brown, Rosanne Cash, Hillary Scott of Lady A, Lee Brice, Margo Price, Nicky Jam, Blanco Brown and many more.”

Throughout Saturday, the TeamYouTube account on X (formerly Twitter) responded to platform users’ frustration with the situation. “Our music licensing agreement with SESAC has expired without agreement on renewal terms, despite our best efforts. “For this reason, we have blocked content on YouTube in the US that is known to be associated with SESAC – in accordance with copyright law,” the statement said.

THR has also contacted SESAC for comment.

A similar legal battle between Universal Music Group and TikTok ensued for several months earlier this year before they finally reached a music licensing agreement. During this time, some artists’ music was also not available on the social media platform.