When Performance Sport Meets Music Copyright: A Licensing Problem Hiding in Plain Sight

Olympic figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté recently had his planned routine - set to music from Universal movie ‘Despicable Me’ - thrown into turmoil, putting an international spotlight on an issue that performance sports have been grappling with for years: how athletes lawfully use musical copyright works when competing on the world stage.

Fortunately, the issues with Guarino Sabaté’s program were resolved in time and he was able to perform as planned, but this isn’t the first time an athlete has encountered copyright infringement issues, and the outcomes aren’t always so positive. See:

• 2022 Beijing Olympics – Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier’s use of "House of the Rising Sun" by indie rock band Heavy Young Heathens. (Infringement dispute was settled out of court).
• 2026 Milan Olympics – Amber Glenn use of “The Return” by CLANN (Seb McKinnon). (CLANN discovered the use of his music after Glenn’s performance and the parties were able to resolve the matter between them).
• 2026 Milan Olympics – Petr Gumennik's proposed use of music from the film "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer." He failed to secure clearance in time and instead performed to "Waltz 1805" by Edgar.

For athletes in sports such as figure skating and gymnastics, music, musicality and the program’s design in relation to music, reflecting musical phrase and form have always been a core element.

Prior to the rules change in 2014 by the International Skating Union, (ISU) the governing body for competitive ice skating, figure skaters could only use lyric-free music. As a result, much of the music used had long since had passed out of copyright (in the UK, the duration of protection is the author’s lifetime plus 70 years under s12 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988).

Following the rule change, skaters suddenly had the option to choose from a huge range of modern music that was still subject to copyright protection. Securing the right to use music owned by third parties is far from straightforward however, and the complexity has only increased as the way music is created, owned, and distributed has evolved.

Why music licensing isn’t as simple as it sounds

At first glance, it might seem like permission from an artist or record label should be enough. In reality however, a single track can involve multiple layers of rights and multiple parties who control them.

Athletes and their governing bodies must navigate:

• Multiple rights in a single piece of music, including copyright in the musical composition, the lyrics, and the sound recording.
• Multiple rights-holders, which may include composers, lyricists, performers, remixers, and music companies or record labels.
• The scope of the permission being requested, which can vary dramatically depending on how and where the routine is performed.

There is also a significant difference between using music at smaller-scale local competitions and performing the same routine at an event such as the Olympics, where it may be broadcast live worldwide, replayed repeatedly, and made available for on-demand streaming.

Each of those uses can require separate consideration, and potentially separate permissions.

With many sporting bodies facing low levels of funding, this is a hurdle they often navigate with minimal legal support, resulting in near-missteps like Guarino Sabaté’s.

The risks of getting it wrong

The consequences of a licensing issue in performance sport are not merely theoretical – we only need to look at the various cases referenced at paragraph 2 above. If an athlete overlooks a key rights-holder, permission may be invalid or could be withdrawn or refused at the last minute - the last thing an athlete needs in the high-pressure run-up to performance.

Athletes who have trained for years around a specific routine are rightly wary of the serious competitive consequences, including being forced to change music at short notice, or the risk of disqualification or disruption on the biggest stage of their career.

The burden of managing this complexity often falls on athletes and sporting bodies that are not music licensing specialists, increasing the risk of mistakes despite best efforts.

Is there a better way?

In principle, a more streamlined approach seems to be the most obvious solution. Centralised licensing platforms that bring together music rights-holders, athletes, and governing bodies could offer a clearer and more comprehensive clearance process.

Such systems could reduce uncertainty and improve compliance, which would allow athletes to focus on what’s important to them: performance rather than permissions. Until solutions like this are widely adopted, however, athletes remain responsible for navigating a fragmented and highly technical licensing landscape.

Looking ahead

As performance sport continues to intersect with global broadcasting and digital distribution, questions around music rights are likely to become increasingly prominent. The recent attention on music use in elite competition is a reminder that copyright law operates just as powerfully in the sporting arena as it does anywhere else, and that clarity, coordination, and early planning are essential to avoid last-minute surprises.