YouTube removes famous music videos from Adele, Nirvana and others as part of copyright negotiations

YouTube has removed iconic music videos such as Adele's “Hello” and many others as the platform is embroiled in a copyright dispute with the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).

According to a report by , the publishing agreement between SESAC and YouTube has expired Rolling Stones, and a large number of videos are affected. Artists affected included Adele, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Kendrick Lamar and Mariah Carey, as well as hundreds of others.

“We have been negotiating in good faith with SESAC to extend our existing contract,” a YouTube spokesperson said, according to a report from Diversity. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach a fair agreement before the deadline.”

The statement continued: “We take copyright law 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 to meet.”

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Music videos disappear from YouTube as negotiations with SESAC stall

Nirvana's YouTube channel was apparently the most affected, with every official music video disappearing from the platform. All that's left of the band are the MTV Unplugged videos. Additionally, every Adele music video before her latest album, 30was also scrubbed.

Bob Dylan's “Subterranean Homesick Blues” was listed as “unavailable.” Some videos remain searchable but unplayable. When one of these videos is clicked, a “Video unavailable” disclaimer appears. This video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.”

For many artists, only unofficial uploads of music videos and clips remain as YouTube and SESAC iron out the kinks in their agreement. In addition, live versions of their songs remain. When it comes to live performance copyright, there is a loophole in the United States that allows live performances to be free from copyright infringement. A live recording does not require royalties to be paid to artists or songwriters.

This is called “neighboring rights” or “neighboring rights”. When a song is played live, royalties typically go to the artist and label that recorded it. However, the USA does not recognize neighboring rights. Therefore, live performances are not protected by copyright.

Featured image by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for AD)