Bob Dylan's Publisher Seemingly Responsible for Takedown of Zohran Mamdani's "Times They Are a-Changin'" Ad

"On the eve of his New York mayoral election victory, Zohran Kwame Mamdani posted an ad on social media soundtracked by Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'." The video, like much of Mamdani's campaign, went viral, as its "New York is a-changin'" slogan rapidly spread across social media. By the following morning, however, it had been removed from X with a takedown notice: "This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright holder.""

"In a statement, UMPG, which acquired Dylan's songwriting catalog in 2020, said, "As a longstanding policy, we do not license Bob Dylan compositions for projects involving political figures." The publishing company has previously denied a request by the Mamdani campaign to license the song, The Times reports, citing two anonymous sources briefed on the matter. UMPG did not explicitly say it had ordered the ad's removal; copyright violations are sometimes detected electronically, prompting automatic takedowns."

Zohran Kwame Mamdani posted a social media ad soundtracked by Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" on the eve of his New York mayoral election victory. The video went viral as the "New York is a-changin'" slogan spread across social media. The ad was removed from X with a takedown notice stating the media had been disabled in response to a report by the copyright holder. Universal Music Publishing Group, which acquired Dylan's songwriting catalog in 2020, said it does not license Dylan compositions for projects involving political figures. UMPG previously denied a campaign license request. The video remained available on Instagram and TikTok.

Read at Pitchfork