Copyright Controversy: Understanding the Olympic Music Copyright Issues

United States figure skater Amber Glenn may have won a gold medal in the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, but that didn’t stop her from skating into copyright issues with her performance music, “The Return” by Seb McKinnon, who performs under the stage name CLANN.

McKinnon was surprised to learn, after Glenn’s performance, that his music provided the backdrop to her gold-medal performance. Glenn was caught off guard as she had been using the song for two seasons with no problem.

Chicago-Kent College of Law Professor of Law Cathay Y. N. Smith says that the prior performances were subjected to a different set of rules.

“In the United States, public performance of recorded or digital music typically requires the venue (such as a stadium, institution, theater, or gym) to purchase a blanket license, also called a public performance license, from one of the performing rights organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC,” says Smith.

A license allows venues to play songs from the catalog, and skaters can rely on the venue’s license, as long as the song that they’ve chosen is in the venue’s catalog.

However, things get a bit more complicated when the music will be broadcast or recorded. That requires a synchronization license, Smith says.

“In many cases, permission is needed from both the copyright owner of the musical composition and the copyright owner of the specific sound recording,” she says.

Once the broadcast goes international, says Smith, the situation can get quite hairy.

Performing rights organizations licenses only cover the U.S., and this year’s Olympics were in Italy and broadcast around the world.

“Copyright is territorial: each country has its own copyright laws and its own systems for obtaining permissions,” says Smith. “Because Olympic performances are broadcast globally, some form of sync licenses would likely be required as well, meaning individual rights holders must be contacted to obtain proper permissions.”

Glenn and McKinnon quickly resolved the issue, and Glenn will continue to use McKinnon’s music in her routines, with his blessing.