Music rights clearance issues (policy being implemented by the ISU starting in 2024)

[A.H.Black]

Oh yes, absolutely agreed on that! A database would make it so much easier for all involved. Perhaps with time and some investment of resources, such a thing would be possible.

True.

I was thinking it would change your other points as well. Why would an athlete/performer choose music by a lesser known music artist (especially a cover) if they could have the original? Also, if the more well known music were used more, it would give the lesser known artist even less opportunity to have their music noticed. It might make a lesser known artist appear poorly if they chose not to allow their music to be used. I can see societal pressure to include music on the data base making a difference.

 

[Willin]

As far as I know, USFS has a database as such. You can check if your music has rights issues or not before the season - and skaters are required to do so.

I thought the ISU also shared what music libraries worked for them and there were no issues up until now even with the music needing to be swapped - but perhaps the IOC has different licensing agreements than standard non-Olympic broadcasts.

 

[Jayar]

There was at least one competitor at US Championships who has an artist coming after them for expenses. This competitor has a post-championships assignment, though not the OWG. It's getting a bit out of hand. We are going to end up with everyone skating to Greensleeves created by AI, but AI will charge them.

 

[Rukia]

There was at least one competitor at US Championships who has an artist coming after them for expenses. This competitor has a post-championships assignment, though not the OWG. It's getting a bit out of hand. We are going to end up with everyone skating to Greensleeves created by AI, but AI will charge them.

usfs had to be aware they were muting her music during practice streams

 

[MacMadame]

I haven't quite understood yet why it's apparently no problem to use music at other competitions. I mean are there special rights for the Olympics Weird (oh, sorry, just saw, someone already asked that...but still haven't seen a very understandable answer).

There are different kinds of rights that require different permissions. However, I know of no right that would only be required at one particular competition (Olympics) and not at others (GP, Worlds). They are all competitions held in arenas and broadcast via network/cable/streaming.

The only way this would happen is if NBC is putting extra requirements for a different kind of license that they haven't already gotten. I can't think of any so I would be surprised if that was the answer but we have posters in broadcasting who might know of something I don't.

I think skaters are just taking a chance during the Fall but not willing to risk it during the Olympics.

As far as I know, USFS has a database as such. You can check if your music has rights issues or not before the season - and skaters are required to do so.

Is it different from ClickNClear?

I thought the ISU also shared what music libraries worked for them and there were no issues up until now even with the music needing to be swapped - but perhaps the IOC has different licensing agreements than standard non-Olympic broadcasts.

Yes, ClickNClear. The ISU is paying for access to this. Skaters can use anything in it with no rights issues. There is a mechanism to ask ClickNClear to get something not in the db cleared as well, but it's not a guarantee it will clear. Of course, skaters are free to make their own arrangements outside of ClickNClear.

I think people skate to covers for many reasons, but covers do tend to be cheaper to license. I also think that's why we had so many Ricky Martins at Euros. Someone said his music is in ClickNClear for no charge.

 

[Karen-W]

Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate confirms on his IG story that the music clearance issue is with his Minions SP. He cleared it with the ISU ClicknClear process last summer and was only informed this past Friday that it wasn't cleared for the Olympics.

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[tony]

There was at least one competitor at US Championships who has an artist coming after them for expenses. This competitor has a post-championships assignment, though not the OWG. It's getting a bit out of hand. We are going to end up with everyone skating to Greensleeves created by AI, but AI will charge them.

The artist is on top of every single usage of the music - I got warnings on my Instagram saying it will be shut down for using such, complete with the email contact of the artist as he had personally filed the complaint on my videos.

It's Alina Bonillo's free skate for those who are wondering.

 

[Rukia]

Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate confirms on his IG story that the music clearance issue is with his Minions SP. He cleared it with the ISU ClicknClear process last summer and was only informed this past Friday that it wasn't cleared for the Olympics.

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absolutely bonkers that he followed the process he was told was correct to find out it wouldn't work for the biggest competition of the year like what are we doing here

 

[MacMadame]

absolutely bonkers that he followed the process he was told was correct to find out it wouldn't work for the biggest competition of the year like what are we doing here

Agreed!

And "not cleared for the Olympics" is not the first time we've heard this and it makes me wonder. From my own research into copyright and music rights issue, I just don't see how this can be. Maybe these artists are saying "sure you can use my music as long as it's not for a really big comp?"

 

[tony]

Agreed!

And "not cleared for the Olympics" is not the first time we've heard this and it makes me wonder.

Ah yes, the "they are still assholes" situation from 2022 coming back, am I right?

From my own research into copyright and music rights issue, I just don't see how this can be. Maybe these artists are saying "sure you can use my music as long as it's not for a really big comp?"

I've poked around about Guarino Sabate's specific issue, and was told by his team that the music was okayed through ClicknClear, but then the owner of the license wrote to them and said it's in fact not actually cleared. So who knows what happened. He will use his short program from last season, which is now his free skate this year so he either has to skate both programs on the same music, or go back to his old free skate as well. With a weeks notice.

 

[MacMadame]

Ah yes, the "they are still assholes" situation from 2022 coming back, am I right?

That situation was very different because they were approached before the Olympics and the band wanted payment for the entire season.

But this season, we have ClickNClear and a much bigger understanding of music rights, yet we have at least one dance team, Alina, and a few others, all with music rights issues right before the Olympics, with some saying their music "wasn't cleared for the Olympics" rather than their music "wasn't cleared at all."

I've poked around about Guarino Sabate's specific issue, and was told by his team that the music was okayed through ClicknClear, but then the owner of the license wrote to them and said it's in fact not actually cleared. So who knows what happened.

Yikes! Someone screwed up here and it wasn't Sabate!

 

[Jay42]

The artist is on top of every single usage of the music - I got warnings on my Instagram saying it will be shut down for using such, complete with the email contact of the artist as he had personally filed the complaint on my videos.

It's Alina Bonillo's free skate for those who are wondering.

After the Mrazek's had to change their music last season I would have thought that his dislike of people using his music like that would have gotten around more. From what I've read he's been doing this for well over a decade now.

 

[Bunny Hop]

I haven't quite understood yet why it's apparently no problem to use music at other competitions. I mean are there special rights for the Olympics Weird (oh, sorry, just saw, someone already asked that...but still haven't seen a very understandable answer).

No, I'm 99% sure there are no special rights for the Olympics, but the Olympics has a significantly larger TV audience than any other skating event. So there' s potential there for the big record labels (e.g. your Warner Music or Sony Music) to not be that worried about their artists' work being broadcast to a niche audience or streamed by diehard skating fans, but they will want to extract $$$ as the Olympics is still a high rating television event across both traditional linear television and now streaming.

Basically, it's about ratings, potential audience reach and how they can monetise that.

A skater at a small club competition is likely going to get away with not clearing music because there will be no broadcast and very few audience members, and nobody is making money from that competition. As soon as you introduce a large paying audience and broadcasts/streaming then people (music labels, artists, lyricists, composers, orchestras) might potentially want their cut. Some artists might be very happy for their work to be used for free but it's often not just them who has a say (the aforementioned music labels), and others will either see it as a commercial opportunity or just not want their work used in that way.

I think people skate to covers for many reasons, but covers do tend to be cheaper to license.

There are whole YouTube channels of (bad) covers out there, some of which have been used for skating programs - I've joked before about there being an ISU Bad Cover Shop. My educated guess is that these are popular because the work of clearance with the original artists has already been done, so it's just the cover versions which needs to be cleared and it is indeed cheaper.

Maybe these artists are saying "sure you can use my music as long as it's not for a really big comp?"

Per above, that is indeed what I think is happening. Not certain, but I would say highly likely.

ETA: I'm not qualified to provide expert copyright advice, but in my working life I have to have a knowledge of copyright.

 

[genevieve]

I always thought the example of the class act was Elton John's response to Nathan using "Rocket Man". Not only did he support it but He called Nathan out when Nathan was at a concert and then invited Nathan to skate in a video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9CCGSU-a9U&list=RDY9CCGSU-a9U&start_radio=1

There are other musical acts that have also responded with support and class.

I mean, Elton John can 100% afford to respond with "support and class", as you say. The man is wealthy beyond dreams and is a brand unto himself. Was it great that he did so? Absolutely! But he is at the pinnacle of fame and achievement and it costs him nothing to do so.

I was thinking it would change your other points as well. Why would an athlete/performer choose music by a lesser known music artist (especially a cover) if they could have the original? Also, if the more well known music were used more, it would give the lesser known artist even less opportunity to have their music noticed. It might make a lesser known artist appear poorly if they chose not to allow their music to be used. I can see societal pressure to include music on the data base making a difference.

Oh, let's not make smaller, independent artists the villains here. This is akin to corporations, or just better-connected individuals (especially so-called "influencers") approaching artists in any medium and expecting free stuff for 'publicity'. It's shady as hell and a terrible excuse.

Oddly enough - I learned of the artist Zoe Keating because Jonathan CASSAR used her song 'We Exist' for his short program in... 2010? I loved that music enough that I bought a few of her albums and started following her on FB. Have also seen her in concert a couple of times. When she was active on FB she was incredibly transparent about the finances of being an independent music artist - she would post recaps of her youtube revenue, and maybe spotify? as well as CD sales. She quit YT when they changed their artist contracts and she went from ~ low hundreds of USD per month to pennies with the same number of views. She also has posted about other arts stealing her music. I think it was originally about a tv show that properly licensed a song, and then there was a post about a stage show in NYC that was very popular that used a song and she had sent numerous letters about credit and compensation. She mentioned that she doesn't even bother with modern dance anymore - which made me feel very guilty, because in my performing days licensing was not even a thing that got discussed.

I hate what is happening here with FS. I especially hate that skaters who competed programs all season thinking they were fine are not encountering music rights issues. And I do not want program music selections to get even more homogenized than they already are. But the answer isn't to expect independent artists to just roll over and allow their music to be used with no compensation and very minimal direct exposure (not that many people are going to bother to remember and seek out artists when they are focused on skating - I probably only did because I saw CASSAR's SP several times during practices that week), nor is it to blame them for trying to make a living.

 

[tony]

Spoke with Tomas -

He will use his 2025 short and if he makes the free skate, it’s indeed going to be his current free skate that is a longer version of said short. He tried to request his 2025 music but it was too late, having just found out here.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

I mean, Elton John can 100% afford to respond with "support and class", as you say. The man is wealthy beyond dreams and is a brand unto himself. Was it great that he did so? Absolutely! But he is at the pinnacle of fame and achievement and it costs him nothing to do so.


Oh, let's not make smaller, independent artists the villains here. This is akin to corporations, or just better-connected individuals (especially so-called "influencers") approaching artists in any medium and expecting free stuff for 'publicity'. It's shady as hell and a terrible excuse.

100% this. I don't think people realize how little money small label/indie musicians make these days and how often people ask them to do something for free for "exposure."

 

[Lanie]

I bet the rights holder was fine with the music being played at smaller competitions (especially considering the fact that so many people don’t even know that anything else outside the Olympics exist for skaters) but now it’s the Olympics so they want more money.

Completely ridiculous.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

I bet the rights holder was fine with the music being played at smaller competitions (especially considering the fact that so many people don’t even know that anything else outside the Olympics exist for skaters) but now it’s the Olympics so they want more money.

Completely ridiculous.

I'm curious as to what the clearance wording is like - I'm wondering whether there's a specific clause that states "including the 2026 Winter Olympic Games"? Because if there's some kind of loophole, I imagine that many rights holders will take advantage.

 

[Aceon6]

Because if there's some kind of loophole, I imagine that many rights holders will take advantage.

Based on what my husband’s best friend, an intellectual property specialist, told me, it could be as simple as the initial clearance being for ISU competitions. The IOC is not the ISU.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Based on what my husband’s best friend, an intellectual property specialist, told me, it could be as simple as the initial clearance being for ISU competitions. The IOC is not the ISU.

Ah, that makes sense. I mean it doesn't but it does.

 

[Karen-W]

Based on what my husband’s best friend, an intellectual property specialist, told me, it could be as simple as the initial clearance being for ISU competitions. The IOC is not the ISU.

Ah, that makes sense. I mean it doesn't but it does.

Yes, and I stand by my initial view/opinion that the IOC are the real villains here if they aren't willing to pony up the cash to pay for the rights. They have the $$ to make this right with the athletes who have already jumped through numerous hoops.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I don’t think indie artists should be told to work for the exposure, but I do think the ISU seriously screwed the skaters over by not making sure click and clear included the Olympics.

 

[tony]

The Skating Session by Tony Wheeler on Instagram: "Tomas Guarino Sabaté of Spain is the most recent skater hit with potential copyright issues heading into the Olympics, with his Minions-themed short program. Read his statement to The Skating Session

133 likes, 16 comments - theskatingsession on February 2, 2026: "Tomas Guarino Sabaté of Spain is the most recent skater hit with potential copyright issues heading into the Olympics, with his Minions-themed short program. Read his statement to The Skating Session here, and his option for a...

www.instagram.com

I added in a direct statement from Tomas after speaking with him. There seems to be a really gray ‘we aren’t shutting it down but we are warning you that there may be consequences’ type of answer.

 

[Karen-W]

I don’t think indie artists should be told to work for the exposure, but I do think the ISU seriously screwed the skaters over by not making sure click and clear included the Olympics.

But the ISU is a separate legal entity from the IOC, so I'm not sure they have the ability to provide any clearance for the Olympics through their process. What should have happened, IMO, is the IOC should have also implemented a rights-clearing process last year through which skaters who had a realistic shot of making their national Olympic teams also cleared their music so that they didn't find themselves, on very short notice, having to change music or deal with additional rights clearance issues.

There isn't any good reason why Tomas in particular should be dealing with this now since the Spanish fed made the decision after he secured the spot at Worlds last spring that he would have their men's spot. He did everything right through the ISU. This is, as far as I can see, on the IOC, as the media rights holder for the Olympics.

 

[Rukia]

Or the ISU should have also checked with the IOC to find out what additional hurdles people needed to take and let skaters and their teams know waaaaay back in like August or something. It's not like the Olympics snuck up on them or suddenly appeared on their schedule.

 

[floridaice]

But the ISU is a separate legal entity from the IOC, so I'm not sure they have the ability to provide any clearance for the Olympics through their process. What should have happened, IMO, is the IOC should have also implemented a rights-clearing process last year through which skaters who had a realistic shot of making their national Olympic teams also cleared their music so that they didn't find themselves, on very short notice, having to change music or deal with additional rights clearance issues.

There isn't any good reason why Tomas in particular should be dealing with this now since the Spanish fed made the decision after he secured the spot at Worlds last spring that he would have their men's spot. He did everything right through the ISU. This is, as far as I can see, on the IOC, as the media rights holder for the Olympics.

If the IOC is at fault and they don't do something there will really be issues for the summer games since there will probably be more athletes/events that use music. Artistic & Rhythmic Gymnastics and Artistic Swimming use music -- does Trampoline or any others?

 

[floxability]

If the IOC is at fault and they don't do something there will really be issues for the summer games since there will probably be more athletes/events that use music. Artistic & Rhythmic Gymnastics and Artistic Swimming use music -- does Trampoline or any others?

Don’t forget dressage! The most elegant of events

 

[acraven]

Yahoo has an online article on this subject. It still leaves me scratching my head.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...1&cvid=698110e131de4e4daaeb8dce658a4aaf&ei=93

 

[Karen-W]

Yahoo has an online article on this subject. It still leaves me scratching my head.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ot...1&cvid=698110e131de4e4daaeb8dce658a4aaf&ei=93

This is definitely hitting the mainstream. Tomas just shared a link to a Barstool Sports blog post about the issue.

Bullshit: An Olympic Figure Skater Won't Be Able To Do His Minions Routine Because of a Music Licensing Issue

This is disgusting. I will be BOYCOTTING the 2026 Winter Olympics unless someone at the IOC figures out how to give us what we deserve, which is Tomas Llorenc Guarino Sabate performing his Minions fig...

www.barstoolsports.com

ETA - the BBC also has an article about it.

2026 Winter Olympics: Skater cannot perform to Minions music in Milan

Spanish figure skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate will not be able to perform to his usual music - a Minions mix - at the 2026 Winter Olympics because of a copyright issue.

www.bbc.com

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

Agreed!

And "not cleared for the Olympics" is not the first time we've heard this and it makes me wonder. From my own research into copyright and music rights issue, I just don't see how this can be. Maybe these artists are saying "sure you can use my music as long as it's not for a really big comp?"

It seems to me that they got clearance for the songs (they're easier to find on copyright clearance sites), but didn't bother with the Universal "fanfare" (as performed by the Minions). That is the fanfare that appears over the Universal logo at the very beginning of the movie. My guess is that it does not appear as a track on any of the soundtracks, and thus was not found on the rights clearance websites. Again, I'm just guessing here, but I'm wondering if someone just rolled the dice hoping that it would go unnoticed/uncontested, but lost. Of course, it could be so much more innocent than that. Maybe they couldn't find the fanfare initially and meant to circle back but forgot about it. What a horrible situation. Hopefully they can just swap out that fanfare portion and keep the rest of the program.

As far as I can tell, the tune is owned by NBCUniversal, and was composed by the late great Jerry Goldsmith. Well, I'm not entirely sure who holds the rights for it. Maybe it's a "work for hire" and NBCUniversal owns all the rights. Or, perhaps NBCUniversal licenses it on an ongoing basis.