US Skater Glenn Resolves Olympic Music Copyright Dispute

U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn resolved a brief copyright dispute with Canadian musician Seb McKinnon over her use of his song in her Olympic routine, turning an unexpected controversy into a positive exchange during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

On Sunday, February 8, Glenn performed her free skate to "The Return," a track by McKinnon, who records under the name CLANN, as part of the figure skating team event in Milan, Italy. The 26-year-old American, the oldest U.S. women's singles skater to compete in the Olympics in nearly a century, placed third in her segment but contributed to Team USA's gold medal victory after Ilia Malinin's strong men's free skate performance pushed the team ahead of Japan.

McKinnon, whose song originally debuted in 2015, expressed surprise on social media platform X that evening after discovering the global broadcast of Glenn's routine. "So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine. It aired all over the world ... what? Is that usual practice for the olympics?" he posted. In a follow-up, he clarified his understanding of Olympic music licensing, noting that his agreement with his label...