Essay: Music Copyright in Figure Skating

Extreme restrictions are causing a historically beloved sport to die out

I attended the US National Figure Skating Championships this weekend for the first time in my life, and the experience was everything I wanted it to be. A big part of why I went was to see Jimmy Ma perform to a Disco Melody that included YMCA and The Weather Girls, and he did not disappoint.

However, this morning, the only option I will have to refer others to that program he skated is a link on NBC Peacock which will disappear in 24 hours. After that it will be gone forever, along with nearly every other skate from Nationals, temporary promotional videos aside. And the reason for this is music copyright.

Thinking of the 90s comedy classic Wayne’s World and the Queen hit Bohemian Rhapsody, I know music sometimes gets a new or expanded audience when it is used as part of another art form. There is not a one way benefit when music is used.

Figure skaters invest tens of thousands of dollars to skate, and dedicate years of their youth to learning an extremely athletic and remarkable art form, one that entranced my mom’s generation back when Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill were skating on rinks not marked up with pharmaceutical advertisements.

This essay is aimed at the people who write policy related to copyright or vote on related laws. Think about the system you’re creating when a skater, despite their immense personal investment, does not get credit for enhancing the appeal of music and promoting music, but only is seen as someone who must pay for the music to exist alongside them in videos.

Their body of work is personal. Unlike with theatrical shows, which have an in-built repeatability, the skater’s work ends when the skater ages out of it. This makes it so that the end result of years of effort and physical wear and tear is that there’s no legacy to watch afterwards.

I checked today, and all of the Legacy on Ice videos which were up to honor the skaters who died a year ago are down now. Even their legacy appears to be erased also, due to music copyright.