Copyright Issues Are a Crack in the Ice for Olympic Figure Skating

Conflicts have increased, but so have solutions, driven chiefly by pragmatism and the threat of AI music

The only persons on the Figure Skating ice at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics feeling more pressure than the skaters are the people who manage music clearances for their performances. The first week of competition alone was marked by numerous instances of alleged copyright infringements or last-minute changes in plan due to clearance issues.

Spanish skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate was unable to use a medley from Illumination. Entertainment's animated film Minions, which he had used for the same program all season.

Spanish pair Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck arrived in Italy still uncertain whether their request for music from Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for the most recent Dune movie had cleared, despite their having made the request months earlier. (It did, just in time.)

U.S. skater Amber Glenn was called out by Canadian artist Seb McKinnon for using his song The Return as part of her free-skate program in the team event. (In true Canadian fashion, McKinnon politely acknowledged the complexities of copyright clearances and congratulated Glenn on her medal.)

Russia-affiliated skater Petr Gumennik had to replace his short program just two days before the start of competition because he did not have the proper permission for music from the film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. He pivoted to Waltz 1805 by Edgar Hakobyan, for which he was able to get permission.

A Growing Problem

Milano Cortina 2026 is not the first time the sport has skated close to the legal edge. U.S. pair skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier were sued by musical duo Heavy Young Heathens over their use of a cover of classic blues song House of the Rising Sun at Beijing 2022. The lawsuit also named the U.S. Figure Skating organization and broadcaster NBC among the defendants. A settlement was reportedly reached last year.

The problem has been arising with increasing frequency, driven in part by the wider social-media distribution of videos of figure skating and other performance sports that rely on music.

Also contributing was the International Skating Union's (ISU) relaxation of its regulations in 2014 to allow athletes to use more-modern music for their routines, instead of the traditionally used classical-music pieces, whose copyrights were in the public domain. That brought more music copyrights into play, and into conflict.

A further complication is that performance venues, from arenas and stadiums to clubs and restaurants, usually have secured their own annual licenses for music performances, live or recorded, through performing-rights organizations (PROs) like BMI or ASCAP in the U.S., SACEM in France, and SIAE in Italy. Nonetheless, individual skaters must also obtain their own music licenses if their song choices are not covered by a venue's blanket license.

The cost of those permissions varies widely, from a few dollars to possibly thousands, depending on the popularity of the songs and what the controlling publishers want to charge as synchronization fees. And using copyrighted music for global-broadcast applications like the Olympics can increase licensing costs exponentially.

No doubt there's a lot going on here, says Max Crutchfield, senior account director, sports entertainment, APM Music, a custom- and library-music service owned jointly by Sony Music and Universal Music Group (UMG). It's a complicated problem, compounded by the fact that music-licensing laws/norms/PROs/enforcement vary by country/territory. He adds further that the primary onus is being placed on athletes to navigate and figure it all out, but there are still key pieces missing on the sync/VOD/social side.

Addressing the Issue

Solutions are being developed. Earlier this month, UMG signed a global licensing agreement with rights-tech platform ClicknClear to allow athletes in gymnastics, figure skating, and other choreographed sports - artistic swimming, dance, cheerleading - to legally access UMG's catalog music for their routines. The deal, which is in addition to its existing agreements with music publishers and independent labels, addresses what the principals describe as a licensing gap between the music industry and music users in competitive sports.

The agreement helps athletes legally use UMG's songs in routines where music rights have previously been difficult to secure. ClicknClear already works with international federations like the ISU and World Gymnastics to support licensing and rights verification.

For UMG, the deal marks its latest arrangement in sports. In 2021, it partnered with FIFA to launch FIFA Sound, designed to create innovative and meaningful connections between football fans, music enthusiasts, players, artists, and the game and songs they all love.

Pragmatism in the Digital Age

The UMG deal also reflects the fact that copyright holders have become more pragmatic about how music moves in the digital age. A quarter century ago, music publishers and record labels fought intensely with online file-sharing companies like Napster, spending millions of dollars in a largely failed legal effort to control online music distribution.

Partnering, rather than litigating, with companies like Spotify has proved far more successful. And lucrative: UMG's statement acknowledges that this will open new revenue and exposure opportunities for its artists while addressing the needs of more than 150 million athletes in choreographed sports worldwide.

The collision of sport and music presents meaningful opportunities for our artists, James Healy, SVP, digital strategy and business development, UMG, said in a statement announcing the ClicknClear venture.

Although some music companies have also tried the litigation route with sports - suing, for instance

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/02/18/copyright-issues-are-a-crack-in...
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