Russian skater Petr Gumennik becomes latest Olympian to change music due to copyright issues

MILAN — Russian figure skater Petr Gumennik has been forced to change his short program music two days before the men's program at the Milan Cortina Olympics after joining a growing list of figure skaters dealing with copyright issues.

Gumennik, who is participating as a neutral athlete at the Winter Games, had been working all season to music from “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” 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.

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 “Dune.” So, he pivoted to “Waltz 1805” by Edgar Hakobyan, for which Gumennik was able to get permission.

The men's competition begins Tuesday night with the short program.

This past week, Spanish skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate was forced to work feverishly to obtain approval for music to his short program, set to a medley from the animated comedy film “Minions.” 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.

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, "Freedom” by Pharrell Williams, on Friday.

"It hasn’t been an easy process," Sabate said, “but the support of everyone who has followed my case has been key to keeping me motivated and optimistic these past few days.”

Loena Hendrickx of Belgium also was concerned about copyright issues after having performed to “Ashes” by Celine Dion from the film “Deadpool 2.” She ended up switching to “I Surrender,” another song by Dion that was easy to get permission to use.

The copyright issue 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.

The ISU has tried to develop systems to avoid copyright issues, but they continue to pop up with alarming frequency.

“It is a very, very, very serious problem,” ISU President Jae Youl Kim said. “We don't want athletes to be worried about the music.”

What may have worked against Gumennik is that Russian skaters have been barred from international competition since their nation's invasion of Ukraine, so few people have been able to see him skate — and hear his music — outside of his own country.

Last May, the ISU announced that Gumennik had been vetted for any ties to the Kremlin and cleared to compete as a neutral athlete should he qualify for the Winter Games. Gumennik wound up winning Skate to Milan, an event held in late September as a sort of last-chance qualifier, earning him a spot in his first Olympics.

Adeliia Petrosian, another Russian competing as a neutral athlete, will participate in the women's event in Milan.

Gumennik's free skate music is from “Onegin,” a Russian historical romance film, for which he has approval. Petrosian has not reported any issues with her music, a Michael Jackson medley for her short program and classical music for her free skate.