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.
Photo: Divmel ic Wikimedia commons 照片：Divmel ic 維基共享資源
The men’s competition begins this evening, Italian time, 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.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
“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 (ISU) 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.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
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.
(AP)
俄羅斯花式滑冰選手彼得．古門尼克（Petr Gumennik）因涉及版權問題，於米蘭—柯蒂納冬季奧運男子組比賽開始前兩天，被迫臨時更換其短曲項目的音樂，讓近來受版權爭議影響的花式滑冰選手再添一人。
以「中立運動員」身分參加冬奧的古門尼克，整個賽季一直使用心理驚悚電影《香水》的配樂進行訓練與比賽。然而，這位23歲的俄羅斯全國冠軍近日才得知，自己並未取得正式授權在比賽中使用此音樂，讓他在冬奧開幕之際陷入進退兩難的局面。
由於時間緊迫，古門尼克也無法取得上季所使用的太空史詩電影《沙丘》的音樂授權，最終只得改用埃德加．哈科比揚（Edgar Hakobyan）的《圓舞曲1805》（Waltz 1805），因為拿得到使用許可。
冬奧花式滑冰的男子組比賽，將於義大利時間今日晚間以短曲揭開序幕。
上週，西班牙選手托馬斯－洛倫茲．瓜里諾．薩巴特（Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate）也因版權問題，被迫緊急處理短曲音樂的授權事宜。他整季使用的是動畫喜劇電影《小小兵》的組曲，深受觀眾喜愛，卻在冬奧前夕得知環球影業可能拒絕授權於賽會中使用。
薩巴特一邊準備比賽備案，一邊為三段音樂爭取授權，其中兩段順利過關，第三段則親自聯繫創作者——同樣來自西班牙的音樂人。最終，他於上週五取得菲瑞．威廉斯（Pharrell Williams）歌曲《自由》（Freedom）的使用許可。
薩巴特表示：「這段過程並不容易，但這幾天所有關注我情況、給予支持的人，都是給我動力、讓我保持樂觀的關鍵」。
比利時選手洛娜．亨德里克斯（Loena Hendrickx）也曾因使用席琳．狄翁為電影《死侍2》演唱的歌曲《浴火重生》（Ashes）而擔心版權問題，最後她改用同樣由狄翁演唱、較容易取得授權的《為愛臣服》（I Surrender）。
近年來，版權問題已成為花式滑冰界的一大隱憂。數十年來，選手僅能使用無歌詞音樂，多半屬於無著作權的作品；但自國際滑冰總會（ISU）2014年放寬規定、允許使用現代流行音樂後，部分音樂創作者開始反對未經授權即在比賽中使用其作品。
儘管ISU試圖建立機制以避免版權爭議，但相關問題仍頻繁出現，令人憂心。
ISU主席金載烈表示：「這是一個非常、非常嚴重的問題。我們不希望運動員因為音樂而感到焦慮」。
對古門尼克而言，問題或許更為棘手，因為自俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭後，俄國選手便被禁止參加多項國際賽事，導致外界鮮少有機會在國際舞台上看到他的演出、聽到他所使用的音樂。
去年5月，ISU宣布古門尼克已通過審查，未發現他與克里姆林宮有任何關聯，准許他以中立身分參賽。隨後，他於9月底舉行、作為「最後機會資格賽」的「滑向米蘭」（Skate to Milan）賽事中奪冠，成功取得生涯首度參加奧運的門票。
另一名以中立選手身分參賽的俄羅斯選手阿黛莉亞．彼得羅相（Adeliia Petrosian），則將參加米蘭冬奧女子組比賽。
古門尼克的長曲項目，音樂取自俄羅斯歷史愛情電影《奧涅金》（Onegin），已取得完整授權；彼得羅相則未回報任何音樂版權問題，她的短曲使用的是麥可．傑克森組曲，長曲則選用古典音樂。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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