We all watch and some download music and videos from artist on YouTube but many of those we look for may not be available now, over the weekend thousands of music videos have been pulled from the site.

Seems there is a dispute between YouTube and SESAC, the preforming rights organization which collects royalties and protects copyrights for songwriters and publishers. Both sides have been working to negotiate a new agreement before the current one expired but have not been able to.

“We have held good faith negotiations with SESAC to renew our existing deal,” a representative for YouTube explained to Variety. “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.

SESAC is smaller than other well-known performing rights organizations, such as ASCAP and BMI, it still represents thousands of artists.\n\nAlong with Nirvana, the YouTube block has affected material from R.E.M., Green Day, Rush and many others. Legal issues mean some but not all material from affected artists are possibly no longer found on YouTube.

Variety also reported that artists who are not directly represented by SESAC, but have worked with SESAC songwriters, also had some of their material removed like Beyonce and Nikki Minaj.

Representatives from YouTube have insisted the company was in “active conversations with SESAC” and hoped to “reach a new deal as soon as possible.”

This is not the first battle of disputes between music organizations and digital website platforms. Earlier this past year, Universal Music Goup removed all of its represented artists material off TikTok after negotiations for a new contract failed. The dispute lasted for months before a solution was reached. Other  contract disputes over the years as in, Warner Music Group fought YouTube over royalty payments in 2008 which lasted for nine months.