Most of us have heard the drama coming from Milan-Cortina where olympic figure skaters changing their music. Intellectual property issues can spring up in the most surprising of places.
In the weeks leading up to the Winter Olympics, multiple figure skaters learned that the music they had used all season might not be cleared for Olympic performance. It turns out that the copyright holder did not grant them permission to use the song for the international broadcast of their performance.
How can a copyright issue surface so late, after months of international competition using the same music? And why is this the first year we are hearing about this? What is a Copyright? Learn more in this article.
Why Some Olympic figure skaters ARE changing their music
Some skaters were lucky in the last minute scramble and the copyright holders granted them permission to use their chosen tracks. An example is Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté, who skated all season to a Minions film soundtrack. He submitted the music through the appropriate channels months earlier and competed internationally without issue. However, days before the Olympics, he learned that the music was not cleared for Olympic broadcast, due to unresolved copyright permissions tied to the film soundtrack. Only after public attention and direct engagement with the rights holder was permission granted, allowing him to use the music as planned.
Other skaters were not as fortunate. Where permission was not obtained in time, athletes were forced to replace their music, modify choreography, or abandon programs entirely… all just days before their olympic competition. Changing it last minute has devastating consequences for their performance and timing, as these skaters performed all year in other competitions and trainings to the same music.
From a purely legal stand point, this is what copyright law is designed to do. this time, with devastating consequences.
Why This Is Happening Now?
Traditionally, the International Skating Union (ISU) prohibited competitive ice skaters from using songs with lyrics in their routines. This lead skaters to nearly uniformly skate to classical music. These old songs were in the public domain, because copyrights do not last forever. However, in 2014, the International Skating Union (ISU) changed the rules to allow lyrics. As a result, skaters have chosen to skate more to modern pop songs, film sound tracks and other contemporary music. The trouble? Those are covered by copyright protection.
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