Good grief they would have to have multiple people working full time just to approve or deny use. They asked an American politician to not use it. Said person continues to use it. They've sent a cease and desist letter along with several other musicians, but YouTube doesn't seem to have a problem airing the stuff. But Goddess forbid a skating competition that several thousand people want to watch uses it. That's a problem.Yes, every venue in the world is supposed to get permission for use of YMCA. Getting permission doesn’t always mean a payment is required. In the case of a charity event or low-level competition, very likely not. But for use of it for something like a movie or TV special, very likely yes.
Obviously, there are many usage situations that fall between those examples. The key is getting permission. For every use.