The Silencing of Figure Skaters at the 2026 Milan Olympics by Copyright Law.

The article focuses on the copyright challenges faced by figure skaters at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics due to music licensing issues. It details how several athletes, including Spanish skater Tomás-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté and Russian skater Petr Gumennik, were forced to change or abandon their planned programs because of unresolved copyright clearances, despite following official procedures. The crisis stems from the International Skating Union’s 2014 rule allowing vocal music, which exposed skaters to complex licensing demands not fully addressed by existing blanket licenses from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). The article explains that these licenses do not cover broadcasts, streaming, or international venues, leaving athletes vulnerable to last-minute restrictions and legal risks. It concludes that without comprehensive, fast-tracked international licensing frameworks, figure skaters remain at risk of having their artistic expression silenced by copyright law. Extracted from the article