Musical Rotations: Skaters Navigate Olympic Copyright Challenges

Russian figure skater Petr Gumennik and other athletes face last-minute changes in their Olympic performances due to copyright issues with their music. The strict rules, relaxed by the ISU in 2014, have led to complications for skaters like Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate and Loena Hendrickx.

Russian figure skater Petr Gumennik was forced into a last-minute scramble to change his short program music just days before the men's competition at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The 23-year-old, competing as a neutral athlete, had been using music from the psychological thriller film 'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,' only to discover he lacked proper authorization to perform with it at the Games.

The copyright issue, a growing problem in figure skating, has also affected Spanish skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate, who urgently sought approval for his music from the animated film 'Minions.' Meanwhile, Belgian skater Loena Hendrickx switched from Celine Dion's 'Ashes' to 'I Surrender' to sidestep potential legal problems.

Relaxed rules by the International Skating Union in 2014 allowed skaters more musical freedom but inadvertently sparked an uptick in copyright-related challenges. Despite ISU's efforts to curb these issues, they persist, notably impacting athletes like Gumennik who have limited international exposure due to geopolitical restraints.

(With inputs from agencies.)