Figure Skaters Try to Master a New Routine: Copyright Compliance; The New York Times, February 12, 2026

Tariq Panja , The New York Times; Figure Skaters Try to Master a New Routine: Copyright Compliance

"The intricacies of intellectual property law have been the talk of the figure skating competition in Milan unlike at any previous Games. Several athletes have found themselves caught up in copyright controversies before and during one of the biggest competitions of their careers, illustrating the complex and error-prone process skaters must navigate to gain permission to use others’ music in their routines."

Why are copyright problems plaguing figure skating at the Milan Cortina Olympics?; AP, February 11, 2026

DAVE SKRETTA , AP; Why are copyright problems plaguing figure skating at the Milan Cortina Olympics?

"One of the recurring issues during the opening week of the figure skating program at the Milan Cortina Olympics has been copyright problems, which have forced some athletes to scramble for approval and others to ditch their planned programs entirely...

Why are copyright problems happening?

The International Skating Union long forbade the use of lyrics in any discipline besides ice dance, forcing athletes to perform to older pieces of music — often classical tunes, such as piano concertos. Those pieces were considered part of the public domain, which meant that they could be used or modified freely and without permission.

That changed in 2014, when the ISU lifted its ban on lyrics in the hope of appealing to younger audiences. Suddenly, skaters had the choice of just about any musical genre, from pop to hip-hop to hard rock and even heavy metal.

The problem is that modern music is not part of the public domain, which means athletes must obtain permission to use it. During the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, the first Olympics in which lyrics were allowed, American skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier used a cover of “House of the Rising Sun,” and the indie rock band ultimately sued them for using it without its permission."

Russian figure skater changes Olympic music over copyright; Associated Press via ESPN, February 8, 2026

Associated Press via ESPN; Russian figure skater changes Olympic music over copyright

"Russian figure skater Petr Gumennik has been forced to change his short program music two days before the men's program at the Milan Cortina Olympics after joining a growing list of figure skaters dealing with copyright issues.

Gumennik, who is participating as a neutral athlete at the Winter Games, had been working all season to music from "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer," a psychological thriller film. But the 23-year-old Russian national champion learned in the past few days that he did not have proper permission to perform to the music, leaving him in limbo as the Winter Games began.

Given such a tight timeframe, Gumennik was unable to get clearance for his music from last season, which came from the space opera film "Dune." So he pivoted to "Waltz 1805" by Edgar Hakobyan, for which Gumennik was able to get permission."

US figure skater Amber Glenn faces backlash over politics and copyright issues; AP via ABC News, February 9, 2026

DAVE SKRETTA AP sports writer via ABC News; US figure skater Amber Glenn faces backlash over politics and copyright issues

"On the same day Amber Glenn won Olympic gold as part of the team event, and stepped away from social media due to backlash over her comments on politics and the LGBTQ+ community, the American figure skater ended up with another headache.

Canadian artist Seb McKinnon, who produces music under the name CLANN, took to social media late Sunday to object to the use of his song “The Return,” which Glenn had used in her free skate — and has been using for the past two years without issue.

“So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine. It aired all over the world ... what? Is that usual practice for the Olympics?” McKinnon posted to X, shortly after the team competition had ended.

Figure skaters are required to obtain permission for the music they use, but that process is hardly straightforward.

Sometimes the label or record producer owns the copyright, other times the artist themselves, and often there are multiple parties involved. Skaters sometimes will piece together different cuts of music, too. Throw in third-party companies such as ClicknClear that try to smooth out the permission process, and the entire copyright issue becomes murky and nuanced."

Figure skater saved from scrapping Olympic routine after Minions music copyright dispute; The Guardian, February 3, 2026

Bryan Armen Graham , The Guardian; Figure skater saved from scrapping Olympic routine after Minions music copyright dispute

"The Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté has been spared a last-minute scramble to redesign his Olympic short program after overcoming a copyright dispute that had threatened to block him from using music from the Minions franchise at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.

The six-time Spanish national champion, who is set to make his Olympic debut in the men’s singles event, said he learned late last week that the routine he has performed throughout the 2025-26 season would not be cleared for Olympic use. Guarino Sabaté said he had submitted the music through the International Skating Union’s recommended rights-clearance process months ago and had competed with the program without issue during the season, including at last month’s European championships in Sheffield.

However, on Tuesday the 26-year-old thanked his fans after Universal gave him permission to use the Minions soundtrack.

“Huge THANK YOU to everyone who reposted, shared and supported. Because of you Universal Studios reconsidered and officially granted the rights for this one special occasion,” Guarino Sabaté wrote on Instagram. “There are still a couple things to be tied up with the other 2 musics of the programme but we are so close to accomplishing it! And it’s all thanks to you!! I’m so happy to see that the minions hitting Olympic ice is becoming real again!! I’ll keep you posted.”"

Minions copyright decision drives Spanish Olympic figure skater, well, bananas; The New York Times, February 2, 2026

Alex Valdes, The New York Times; Minions copyright decision drives Spanish Olympic figure skater, well, bananas

"Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté might not speak Minion, but if he did, he might have plenty to say.

With only days before the start of competition at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Guarino Sabaté was informed that, because of copyright issues, he will not be able to perform his routines to the Minions music mix he has been using throughout the 2025-26 season. He has also done his routines in an outfit reminiscent of the movie characters: a yellow T-shirt and blue overalls.

Universal Pictures, which owns the subsidiary Illumination, which in turn owns the Minions franchise, told Guarino Sabaté he cannot use the music. In an Instagram post, the skater said he “followed all due procedures and submitted my music through the ISU ClicknClear system in August, and competed with this program for the entire season.”

However, Guarino Sabaté was told Friday — one week before the start of the skating competition — that he did not have permission...

In a statement, the International Skating Union said: “Copyright clearances can represent a challenge for all artistic sports. While the ISU does not have a contractual relationship with ClicknClear, we continue to work collaboratively with rights clearance stakeholders to ensure that thrilling performances can be accompanied by stirring music.”...

ClicknClear is a “music rights tech company delivering officially licensed music to choreographed sports athletes/teams and performing arts ensembles that use music in their routines worldwide,” according to its website."

Figure skater forced to scrap Olympic routine after Minions music copyright dispute; The Guardian, February 2, 2026

Bryan Armen Graham, The Guardian ; Figure skater forced to scrap Olympic routine after Minions music copyright dispute

"The Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté faces a last-minute scramble to redesign his Olympic short program after a copyright dispute blocked him from using music from the Minions franchise just days before competition begins at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.

The six-time Spanish national champion, who is set to make his Olympic debut in the men’s singles event, said he learned late last week that the routine he has performed throughout the 2025-26 season would not be cleared for Olympic use. 

Guarino Sabaté said he had submitted the music through the International Skating Union’s recommended rights-clearance process months ago and had competed with the program without issue during the season, including at last month’s European championships in Sheffield.

The ruling means the 26-year-old must now adapt or replace choreography he has refined for months, a daunting task in a sport where musical timing and muscle memory are inseparable...

Rights to the Minions property are controlled by Illumination and parent studio Universal Pictures. It was not immediately clear which specific licensing hurdle ultimately blocked Olympic clearance, but music licensing in figure skating has grown increasingly labyrinthine in recent years, particularly as the sport has shifted toward contemporary popular music...

“It’s a complex issue, frankly, because the music industry has no common clearance platform,” Smith said. “There are multiple buckets of rights, and within those buckets the clearance process isn’t done on a single platform. Tracking tools have improved, but the facilitated process just isn’t there.”

How to Find Copyright Owners For Covers and Samples; HypeBot, April 16, 2025

Alana Bonilla , HypeBot; How to Find Copyright Owners For Covers and Samples

"Want to use a someone else’s audio legally but don’t know who owns it? This expert guide shows you how to find copyright holders fast – and get the permissions you need without the legal headaches."

Hell is Clearing Permissions: Looking for Lifelines and Deliverance [5,000th post since this blog started in 2008]; IP, AI & OM, March 8, 2025

Kip Currier, IP, AI & OM; Hell is Clearing Permissions: Looking for Lifelines and Deliverance [5,000th post since this blog started in 2008]: 

Hell is Clearing Permissions: Looking for Lifelines and Deliverance

French Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre famously opined "L'enfer, c'est les autres (Hell is other people). This post won't be weighing in on the nuances of that declaration by a character in his 1944 play Huit Clos (No Exit) -- although candidates who could easily qualify as diabolic "other people" may spring to mind for you too.

However, thinking about an array of challenging experiences I've had while working on clearing permissions for the use of images and textual material in my forthcoming textbook, Ethics, Information, and Technology, I thought of Sartre's grim observation, with a twist: Hell is clearing permissions.

I've been teaching a Copyright and Fair Use course since 2009, which expanded into an IP and Open Movements around 2015, so I'm neither new to copyright law and fair use issues nor unfamiliar with clearing permissions to use images. Graduate students in the course read Kembrew McLeod's Freedom of Expression and Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi's Reclaiming Fair Use: How To Put Balance Back In Copyright, both of which deal with "permissions culture". I also have my students get familiar with permissions issues via a free comic book, Bound By Law?, composed by Duke Law School's Center for the Study of the Public Domain. The "Bound By Law?" authors, Keith Aoki, James Boyle, and Jennifer Jenkins, chronicle real-life travails faced by creators lawfully trying to exercise fair use while creating new works and balancing licensing costs. One of my favorite examples in the book is the documentary film makers who happen to capture images from an episode of The Simpsons displayed on a TV set while filming what goes on in the backstage lives of stagehands working on The Wagner Ring Cycle opera.

Yet, despite fairly significant copyright and fair use knowledge, as well as frequently participating in copyright webinars and trainings, this is the first time I've worked on clearing permissions for a book of my own. The experiences have been eye-opening to say the least. Two insights and "needs" continue to jump out at me: 

• (1) the need for more responsive, user-friendly, and expedient ways to clear permissions, and 
• (2) the need for more accessible and readily understandable information sources to aid authors in the do's and don'ts of clearing permissions.

I do need to acknowledge the many contributions that copyright and fair use scholars Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, mentioned above, have made in bringing together collaborative groups that have created "Best Practices" primers for a number of areas, such as their 2012 Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries.

Much more can be done, though, to help newer authors and creators, as well as seasoned pros, to navigate hurdles and potential pitfalls of securing permission to use images. Information professionals -- librarians and other staff within libraries, archives, and museums, for example -- are well-equipped and positioned to use their unique skill sets to help creators to successfully maneuver through clearing permissions-related "obstacle courses".

In future posts, I'll share insights, lessons learned, and tips on mitigating "hellish" experiences and moving from uncertain "limbo" to more clarity on image permissions.

A farewell to copyright protection for Hemingway, Hammett — and Popeye; Marketplace, December 25, 2024

 Matt Levin, Marketplace; A farewell to copyright protection for Hemingway, Hammett — and Popeye

"Let’s say you’re a hip-hop artist and for whatever reason, you want to spit bars over a sample of the jazz standard “Everybody Loves My Baby” with Louis Armstrong on cornet.

In 2024, that’s a hassle. “You’ve got to clear the sound recording copyright, and that is easier said than done,” explained Jennifer Jenkins, a professor at Duke Law School. “You have to figure out who owns it. You’ve got to find them. You’ve got to get them to respond to you, and you’ve got to negotiate a deal.”

But once the ball drops at midnight Jan. 1, you can remix that Satchmo recording to your heart’s content, no contracts required."

British Museum Removes Writer’s Translations of Chinese Poetry After Being Accused of Copyright Infringement; ArtNews, June 21, 2023

Karen K. Ho,  ArtNews; British Museum Removes Writer’s Translations of Chinese Poetry After Being Accused of Copyright Infringement

"The British Museum has removed translations of poetry by a Chinese revolutionary from one of its exhibitions after a translator alleged that her work was used without permission or payment. 

Vancouver-based editor, poet, and translator Yilin Wang said she did not receive any credit or reimbursement for their translations when they appeared in “China’s Hidden Century,” which opened on May 18 and includes translations of poetry by Qiu Jin, a feminist and revolutionary that the New York Times dubbed “China’s Joan of Arc.”...

On June 21, the British Museum’s spokesperson sent ARTnews a statement that said, “Recently we realised that permissions and acknowledgement for a translation by Yilin Wang had been inadvertently omitted from our exhibition China’s hidden century. This was an unintentional human error for which the Museum has apologised to Yilin Wang.”

The statement confirmed that the museum listened to Wang’s request to take down their translations in the exhibition. “We have also offered financial payment for the period the translations appeared in the exhibition as well as for the continued use of quotations from their translations in the exhibition catalogue. The catalogue includes an acknowledgement of their work. We continue to be in discussion with Yilin Wang.”

The museum’s statement also called the criticism its staff has recently received on social media “unacceptable,” noting, “It is through their scholarship and efforts, and those of their collaborators, that we have been able to present this period of Chinese history, through people-centred stories, to the thousands visiting the China’s hidden century temporary exhibition at the British Museum. We stand behind our colleagues fully and request those responsible for these personal attacks to desist as we work with Yilin Wang to resolve the issues they have raised concerning the use of their translations within the exhibition.”"

The Key to the Sharp Objects Mystery Is in the Music; Esquire, August 12, 2018

Matt Miller, Esquire; The Key to the Sharp Objects Mystery Is in the Music

[Kip Currier: HBO's 8-episode "Sharp Objects" is a thought-stirring, unflinching exhumation on the roles of "memory" and "place" in people's lives, as witnessed via the POV of childhood trauma survivor-cum-journalist Amy Adams' tragi-heroine. Music plays an inseparable role in the show's haunting story-telling and this Esquire article sheds fascinating light on the creative, collaborative spirit between director Jean-Marc Vallée and rock music icon band Led Zeppelin, whose songs stand out memorably in some key episodes.]

"Miraculously, [Led Zeppelin] liked the idea so much they approved not one but four songs; they also gave Vallée free reign to play as much of the tracks as he wanted and even layer them over each other to make his own atmosphere. “I think I fell on the floor,” Jacobs says of when she got the call, hearing that the songs had been approved. “Like, wow, this was so unprecedented, because they rarely ever let you use more than one song, and [we could] use the songs multiple times.”

The difference with Sharp Objects was Vallée’s approach to his soundtracks, which isn’t music as background music, but rather an integral part of the story and characterization."

A Presentation on Legal Issues for Podcasters - Who Owns What?; Lexology, August 3, 2018

Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP - David Oxenford,

Lexology; A Presentation on Legal Issues for Podcasters - Who Owns What?

"Last week, I spoke at Podcast Movement 2018 – a large conference of podcasters held in Philadelphia. My presentation, Legal Issues In Podcasting – What Broadcasters Need to Know, was part of the Broadcasters Meet Podcasters Track. The slides from my presentation are available here. In the presentation, I discussed copyright issues, including some of the music rights issues discussed in my articles here and here, making clear that broadcaster’s current music licenses from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and even SoundExchange don’t provide them the rights to use music in podcasts. Instead, those rights need to be cleared directly with the holders of the copyrights in both the underlying musical compositions as well as in any sound recording of the song used in the podcast."
 

The Real Deal: Using Found Content ; Lexology, August 1, 2018

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC - Terri Seligman, Lexology; The Real Deal: Using Found Content

[Kip Currier: Informative article with tips on deciding how and when to use images found on the Net.

In my IP course I've shared the "teachable moment" story of a savvy business friend who was getting a start-up up and running about a decade ago and asked me "if it's OK to just scrape images from the Internet to use on the company's website?" You can anticipate my response, which always elicits a knowing laugh from the students--and reinforces the importance of considering potential copyright and risk management issues.]

"As reported by MediaPost, replacing the use of stock images with crowdsourced photos from real people is gaining popularity with major brands. The attraction is obvious: photos from real consumers can be more "authentic, local and real" than stock imagery.

But it's important to keep some rules of the road in mind to avoid the potential of liability for use of found content."