MILAN — Another day, another music licensing controversy in figure skating. But this one, it appears, will end with everyone happy.
Amber Glenn, part of the gold medal-winning American team, uses a section of the song “The Return” by CLANN in her free skate routine. CLANN — a.k.a. Seb McKinnon — noticed, and wondered how exactly this happened.
“So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine,” McKinnon wrote. “It aired all over the world… what? Is that usual practice for the olympics?”
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The International Skating Union permitted skaters to use songs with lyrics starting in the mid-2010s, opening up a massive new category of potential songs, but also opening up a raft of rights issues. Performing, say, Bizet’s “Carmen” doesn’t require rights clearance because that work is in the public domain, but performing a Lady Gaga song requires the complex negotiation of rights for performance, broadcast, remixing, remixing with choreography, among other needs.
And sometimes, not every box gets checked. After the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, American pairs skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier were served with a lawsuit for the alleged unsanctioned use of Heavy Young Heathens’ “House of the Rising Sun” in one of their routines. The suit, which also named NBC for broadcasting the performance, was settled later that year for an undisclosed amount.
Since then, U.S. Figure Skating has sought to work proactively with music licensors such as ASCAP and BMI. But the federation notes that the ultimate responsibility lies with the skater and their team to avoid legal entanglements.
In Glenn’s case, that meant a hasty negotiation with McKinnon, though specifics weren’t revealed. “The issue of music rights can be complex and confusing, and it seems like there was a hiccup somewhere in that process,” Glenn said in a statement. “I’m glad we were able to clear things up and I’m excited about the possibility of collaborating with Seb moving forward.”
Other skaters haven’t been quite so fortunate; Russia’s Petr Gumennik was forced to change his music just two days before his individual skate because of licensing concerns. Spanish skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté managed to salvage his “Minions” music after a last-second rights issue made worldwide news.
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“It was a dream come true to perform at the Olympic Games, and to have Seb acknowledge my performance and congratulate me afterward made the moment even more special,” Glenn said in her statement. “It’s my sincere hope that I was able to help create new fans of both figure skating and Seb.”
Glenn will skate to McKinnon’s music in her individual program next Thursday.