{"id":2272739,"date":"2026-02-08T17:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2272739"},"modified":"2026-02-08T17:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:22:24","slug":"petr-gumennik-changes-music-for-milan-cortina-olympics-amid-copyright-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/petr-gumennik-changes-music-for-milan-cortina-olympics-amid-copyright-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Petr Gumennik changes music for Milan Cortina Olympics amid copyright issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MILAN (AP) \u2014 Russian figure skater Petr Gumennik has been forced to change his short program music two days before the men\u2019s program at the Milan Cortina Olympics<\/a><\/span> after joining a growing list of figure skaters<\/a><\/span> dealing with copyright issues.<\/p>\n

Gumennik, who is participating as a neutral athlete at the Winter Games, had been working all season to music from \u201cPerfume: The Story of a Murderer,\u201d a psychological thriller film. But the 23-year-old Russian national champion learned in the last few days that he did not have proper permission to perform to the music, leaving him in limbo as the Winter Games began.<\/p>\n

Given such a tight timeframe, Gumennik also was unable to get clearance for his music from last season, which came from the space opera film \u201cDune.\u201d So, he pivoted to \u201cWaltz 1805\u201d by Edgar Hakobyan, for which Gumennik was able to get permission.<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s competition begins Tuesday night with the short program.<\/p>\n

This past week, Spanish skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate was forced to work feverishly<\/a><\/span> to obtain approval for music to his short program, set to a medley from the animated comedy film \u201cMinions.\u201d Sabate had been performing the fan-favorite program all season, only to learn that Universal Studios was poised to reject the use of it during the Winter Games.<\/p>\n

Sabate began to work on a backup program while getting approval for two cuts of music. He obtained the third by reaching out to the artist, a fellow Spaniard. And he was granted use of the final piece, \u201cFreedom\u201d by Pharrell Williams, on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been an easy process,\u201d Sabate said, \u201cbut the support of everyone who has followed my case has been key to keeping me motivated and optimistic these past few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loena Hendrickx of Belgium also was concerned about copyright issues after having performed to \u201cAshes\u201d by Celine Dion from the film \u201cDeadpool 2.\u201d She ended up switching to \u201cI Surrender,\u201d another song by Dion that was easy to get permission to use.<\/p>\n

The copyright issue<\/a><\/span> has become a big problem in figure skating in recent years. For decades, athletes could only use music without words, most of which was considered public domain. But when the International Skating Union relaxed its rules in 2014, and skaters began to use more modern music, some artists began to object to their work being used without permission.<\/p>\n

The ISU has tried to develop systems to avoid copyright issues, but they continue to pop up with alarming frequency.<\/p>\n

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Spain’s Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate competes during the Men’s Short Program on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, Thursday, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton\/PA via AP)<\/figcaption><\/bsp-read-more><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n