Andrew, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By: Jack Scarpa
All eyes were glued upon Team USA’s “Blade Angels” and the “Quad God” at the 2026 Winter Olympics as they captivated a global audience with figure skating performances that blended elite athleticism with artistic storytelling. However, behind figure skating routines lies a complex web of copyright and music licensing requirements, most visible during the Olympic Games, where the performances are aired as part of a major global broadcast rather than merely an esteemed competition. This article argues that while figure skating choreography may be transformative and expressive, the commercial scale of the Olympic Games often outweighs fair use considerations in ways that may not apply as strongly to other international competitions.
Figure Skaters are not only athletes, but also performers who rely heavily on artistic expression to shape their routine.[1] One key element that sets athletes apart is music, which is not merely background sound but a central component of their performances, as choreography and storytelling are built directly around it.[2] In competition, figure skating is scored using two categories: the Technical Element Score (“TES”) and the Program Component Score (“PCS”).[3] The PCS evaluates the artistic quality of a skater’s performance, including how effectively the choreography, timing, and expression align with and interpret the chosen music.[4] Since judges evaluate how movements correspond with the rhythm and structure of music, the music itself becomes a crucial factor in determining a routine’s score.[5] As a result, copyright restrictions on a skater’s chosen music can directly affect their ability to perform routines as choreographed.[6]
Given the central role music plays in figure skaters’ routines, U.S. Figure Skating (“USFSA”) has established policies regarding the use of copyrighted music.[7] Under USFSA policy, athletes must ensure that the music used in their programs is fully cleared through performance rights organizations or obtain a separate license through services like ClicknClear.[8] Licensing music for a figure skating program is often more complex than the policy suggests because each song typically involves two separate copyrights: one covering the musical composition and another covering the sound recording, which are often owned by different parties.[9] In addition, performances that combine choreography and music, such as skating routines, may qualify as “dramatic public performances”, for which Performance Rights Organizations (“PROs”) typically do not offer a license.[10] This complexity increases further at international competitions, like the Olympics, where performances are globally broadcast ed and copyright law differs, meaning that obtaining a license to use a song for competition or venue does not automatically extend to other events or to global broadcasts.[11]
These licensing challenges became evident during the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, where several skaters reportedly encountered copyright issues during the first week of the games.[12] One of the most notable examples involved the U.S.’s Amber Glenn at the Olympics.[13] Glenn was confronted on social media by Seb McKinnon, a Canadian artist, for skating to his song “The Return,” which Glenn has been using for the past two years.[14] McKinnon posted on X, “So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine,” objecting to Glenn’s use of his song in the team competition.[15] Glenn and McKinnon later came to an agreement that allowed Glenn continued use of the song in the individual competition, but their interaction highlights the copyright issues now facing the figure skating community.[16]
The growing number of licensing disputes during the Olympics raises an important legal question: whether the use of copyrighted music in figure skating programs can qualify as fair use under U.S copyright law, if the dispute were to be litigated under U.S. law.[17] Fair use is an affirmative defense that allows the use of copyrighted work without constituting infringement.[18] Courts determine whether a use qualifies as fair use by considering four factors: (1) the purpose and character of the use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and (4) the effect of the use on the work’s potential market value.[19] Although courts analyze all four factors, this article will focus on the first, which weighs whether the use of work is transformative or commercial. This factor is important because the commercial nature of the Olympic Games plays a central role in the analysis.[20]
Concerning the first factor, purpose and character, a court evaluates whether the new work adds something new with a further purpose or different character, changing the original work with a new expression or meaning.[21] In other words, the court will ask whether and to what extent the new work is transformative.[22] In figure skating, defendants could argue that their use is transformative because their performance adapts a song into a new artistic form.[23] A skating program involves a variety of technical elements, including spins, jumps, step sequences, and artistic elements like costumes, choreography, and storytelling.[24] Making music only part of the performance, and not the whole performance.[25] Meaning, incorporating a song with various other artistic and technical elements could transform it into a new creation.[26]
However, when evaluating fair use, courts do not consider transformative use alone, but also compare the commercial nature of the secondary work.[27] Although commerciality alone is not dispositive, courts have made clear that when a secondary work is highly commercial, that factor can weigh strongly enough against fair use to defeat the defense.[28] The Olympic Games operate on an extraordinary commercial scale, with media rights serving as the financial backbone of the Olympics for decades, accounting for the single greatest source of revenue for the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”).[29] Broadcasting rights account for approximately 61% of the IOC’s total revenue.[30] In one Olympic cycle alone, television broadcasting rights generate roughly $3.1 billion.[31] Major broadcast companies spend billions to secure Olympic coverage, reflecting the event’s extraordinary commercial scale.[32] NBCUniversal’s long-term U.S. rights agreement to broadcast the Olympics through 2032 alone is valued at around $7.75 billion.[33] This value grew even more in March of 2025, when the IOC and NBCUniversal agreed to a further $3 billion extension to cover the 2034 and 2036 Olympics.[34]
Importantly, this tension appears most prominent at the Olympics rather than across all figure skating competitions.[35] This is because the Olympics’ commercial reach far surpasses other figure skating competitions, with an average viewership of 20 million viewers for the Milan Cortina Olympics.[36] While reported U.S. television audiences for major non-Olympic figure-skating events in 2025 were far smaller than Olympic audiences, with one 2025 World Championships NBC telecast drawing about 1.81 million viewers and one 2025 U.S. Championships NBC telecast drawing about 2.03 million viewers.[37] Many skaters perform the same routines across multiple venues throughout their entire competitive season.[38] For example, Amber Glenn performed her free skate to The Return a month earlier in January at the U.S. Championship to qualify for the Olympic team.[39] In fact, she has been using the song for the past two years, but it wasn’t until her performance was broadcast during the Olympics that the song’s creator became aware of its unpermitted use.[40]
While figure skating routines may transform copyrighted music into a new expressive performance, the massive commercial scale of the Olympics makes a successful fair use defense unlikely in that context. In smaller competitions with far less commercial exposure, however, the balance between transformative and commercial use may shift, meaning the same use of music could be evaluated differently under a fair use analysis.
Student Biography:
Jack Scarpa is a 3L at Suffolk University Law School and serves as Vice President of Entertainment for the Sports & Entertainment Law Association. He hopes to pursue a legal career in the sports and entertainment industries, with a particular focus on intellectual property.
Disclaimer:
The Suffolk Law Sports & Entertainment Law Association Blog is a student-run publication intended to encourage discussion, analysis, and enjoyment of issues related to sports and entertainment law. The content published on the Blog is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Suffolk University Law School, the Sports & Entertainment Law Association, or any affiliated faculty, staff, or students. Nothing on this Blog should be construed as creating an attorney–client relationship.
[1] See Ayesha Rascoe, Music is critical to figure skating at the Olympics. Here’s what to watch for, NPR (Feb. 8, 2026), https://www.npr.org/2026/02/08/nx-s1-5704243/music-is-critical-to-figure-skating-at-the-olympics-heres-what-to-watch-for.
[2] Id.
[3] See U.S. Figure Skating, Scoring System, U.S. Figure Skating, https://usfigureskating.org/sports/2025/8/12/scoring-system.aspx (last visited Mar. 4, 2026).
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] See Rascoe, supra note 1.
[7] See U.S. Figure Skating, Use of Music at U.S. Figure Skating Sanctioned and Approved Events (May 25, 2024), https://usfigureskating.org/documents/2025/8/9/U.S._Figure_Skating_Music_Policy.pdf.
[8] Id. (explaining complexity of licensing music for figure skating). “ClicknClear” is a licensing platform that helps users obtain music-use permissions for performances and related uses. Id.
[9] See Denny Alfonso, Why are Olympic figure skaters having issues with their music selections?, Athletic (Feb. 10, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7034724/2026/02/10/olympics-figure-skating-music-copyright/.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] See Dave Skretta, Why are copyright problems plaguing figure skating at the Milan Cortina Olympics?, Associated Press (Feb. 11, 2026), https://apnews.com/article/milan-cortina-olympics-figure-skating-glenn-87d99f87be3808d371ec57f300ad7817.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
[15] See Seb McKinnon (@SebMcKinnon), X (Feb. 8, 2026), https://x.com/SebMcKinnon/status/2020604630657302841.
[16] See Skretta, supra note 12.
[17] See Emily Day, Blog Article, New Music, New Rules: Figure Skating Into the New Copyright Era, Brook. L. Sch. Sports & Ent. L. Blog (June 16, 2025), https://sports-entertainment.brooklaw.edu/music/new-music-new-rules-figure-skating-into-the-new-copyright-era/#:~:text=For%20the%20first%20factor%2C%20purpose,make%20money%20performing%20and%20competing.
[18] See 17 U.S.C. § 107.
[19] Id.
[20] See Katelyn Kohler, The Silencing of Figure Skaters at the 2026 Milan Olympics by Copyright Law, Sports Litig. Alert (Mar. 6, 2026), https://sportslitigationalert.com/the-silencing-of-figure-skaters-at-the-2026-milan-olympics-by-copyright-law/.
[21] See Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, 579 (1994) (quoting Pierre Leval, Toward a Fair Use Standard, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 1105, 1111 (1990)).
[22] Id.
[23] See Day, supra note 17.
[24] Id.
[25] Id.
[26] Id.
[27] See Andy Warhol Found. for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, 598 U.S. 508, 538–39 (2023).
[28] See Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises., 471 U.S. 539, 562 (1985).
[29] Id. at 562.
[30] See Terri R. Miller, Reclaiming the Rings: Why Olympic Broadcasting Rights Need a Rethink, WACC (Aug. 6, 2024), https://waccglobal.org/reclaiming-the-rings-why-olympic-broadcasting-rights-need-a-rethink/.
[31] See Tariq Saleh, IOC Generates $7.6bn Revenue for Extended Olympic Cycle, Sportcal (May 23, 2022), https://www.sportcal.com/financial/ioc-generates-7-6bn-revenue-for-extended-olympic-cycle/.
[32] See Daniel Parris, The Business of the Olympics: Rising Revenues, Diminishing Cultural Reach. A Statistical Analysis, Stat Significant (July 24, 2024), https://www.statsignificant.com/p/the-business-of-the-olympics-rising.
[33] Id.
[34] See Graham Dunbar, NBC and IOC Sign $3B Olympic Media Rights Deal Through 2036 Including Salt Lake City Winter Games, Associated Press (Mar. 13, 2025, 12:04 PM EDT), https://apnews.com/article/ioc-olympis-nbc-us-broadcast-rights-4d71ac4218474b5e6e0a3fcba2fc41bf.
[35] See Saleh, supra note 31; see also Skretta, supra note 12.
[36] See Jon Lewis, NBCU Skates to Strong Audience on Gold Medal Day for U.S. Women, Sports Media Watch (Feb. 19, 2026), https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2026/02/olympics-ratings-nbc-figure-skating-hockey-us-women-gold-medals/.
[37] See U.S. Figure Skating Championships Ratings on NBC, USTVDB, https://ustvdb.com/networks/nbc/shows/us-figure-skating-championships/ (last visited Mar. 22, 2026); see also Saturday TV Ratings 3/29/25: Saturday Night Live Sinks to New Low, World Figure Skating Championships Stable with Friday Airing, Rising March Madness Final Four Leads Fox to Victory, The TV Ratings Guide (Apr. 2, 2025), http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2025/04/saturday-tv-ratings-32925-saturday.html.
[38] See Kohler, supra note 20.
[39] See Skretta, supra note 12.
[40] Id.
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