USFS Revised Music Policy 2024

[FigureSpins]

USFS sent out an email to club officers and coaches last week, sharing their revised Music Policy.  This has generated a lot of discussions and objections, as well as questions like "what about (dance performances/gymnastics/synchronized swimming, etc.)?" From what I've read and heard, this issue has loomed in the background for a long time.  It's probably been triggered by the incident at the last Winter Olympics, where a cover band objected to NBC, ISU and USFS using their recording for an exhibition without their permission.  The core issue was the rebroadcast of the live performance with the music the band not receiving residuals for that performance.

All competitions now have to comply with the policy, which means that the professional videographers can't share a skater's video if it contains music.  They've also indicated that family/friends cannot record at any event, nor share it online. As someone else told me "That's a shame that Grandma, who is homebound, can't see her granddaughter or grandson skate."  Might be a little exaggerated to tug at heart strings, but it is in a [img=https://www.justjared.com/2024/02/11/kia-super-bowl-commercial-2024-girl-figure-skates-for-grandfather-in-touching-ad/]http://TV Commercial[/img], so probably true.

This is a link to the original email:  LINK

The actual document is HERE.

There is a Zoom meeting for USFS members today @ 6pm ET. Members should check their email for the registration link.  (Email subject: "Music Announcement Town Hall Invitation")
Questions regarding the Music Policy may be sent to music@usfigureskating.org and they'll try to address as many as possible and explain the reason for this change.

I did read a response from USFS, saying that "clearing the music" will be effective next season, but I'm not sure if they meant the season that starts 7/1/2024 or 7/1/2025. 

[Query]

Perhaps questions for discussion might include:

Is it OK to use music which was composed, arranged and performed (3 separate issues!) without copyright, or whose copyrights have expired, in all countries, and to stream that performance with music? I gave links to what I hope was uncopyrighted music distributed by Canadian sources in another thread.

I bet you are fairly safe if you use music composed (and arranged! - a lot of older music was composed on out of date instruments) in the 19th century or earlier (e.g., Bach, Beethoven...), and you perform the music yourself, or pay someone to, who agrees in writing not to copyright the performance. But I could be wrong.

Do the ISI and ISU have a similar policy, and what is it?

Choreography (e.g., dance/test patterns) can also be copyrighted. Perhaps distributing videos of a performance, even without music, or with uncopyrighted music, is still a problem?

Have fun!

[Query]

Edit: Ignore what I said earlier about the 19th century or earlier.

It might interest people to know that there are a number of sources that give varying information on copyright duration, renewal, and reclamation, which might affect the use of old compositions, arrangements, recordings, and choreography. E.g.,

https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.pdf

https://library.mi.edu/musiccopyright/duration

https://www.royaltyexchange.com/length-of-ownership-music

https://www.lawshelf.com/videocoursesmoduleview/copyright-duration-renewal-and-termination

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_copyright_terms_of_countries

It is possible that all but the last mostly only relate to US copyright law. But streams might go outside the U.S.

I wonder how music and choreography copyrights could affect LiveBarn, which contracts to stream and record video and sound from many ice rinks.

Incidentally, a common music school exercise is to create music which imitates the style of other composers. It's a common music school assignment. And now you could probably get AIs to do it - but there has been a lot of controversy concerning whether the output of AIs trained using copyrighted work does itself violate copyrights.

[Query]

I am only trying to figure out how to comply with US and International law. (BTW, I'm not a lawyer, so my quick web research is not authoritative.) It is not obvious that these ideas comply with USFS rules. But the USFS rules are new - perhaps they could change.


Using music compositions, arrangements and performances that are not and could not be copyrighted, or whose copyright terms have expired, so that it can be broadcast, distributed and streamed, has several obvious problems:

1. The available music might not appeal to all modern figure skaters.

2. There is a finite body of suitable compositions, arrangements and performances that are old enough. It is boring to have many people use the same music.

3. Some old recordings are poor quality. Not always a problem - few if any indoor skating rinks have particularly wonderful acoustics. Sometimes recordings can be "cleaned up" - but maybe the person performing the cleaning has copyright protection as well.


The obvious alternative, contracting with current artist and copyright licensees, for current or new music, for distribution, broadcast and streaming rights, is more expensive, but possible. Read the contract carefully - some have limited scope and duration.


You also have the major problem of whether you have to stop distributing, broadcasting and streaming older skating performances, even if you properly licensed the music (& choreography!), but that license did not specifically mention distributing, broadcasting and streaming. That would greatly annoy a lot of people in this forum and elsewhere.

[LunarSkater]

Query, I am not a lawyer either. I am, however, a former librarian and had to educate my patrons regarding various copyright issues. Essentially, USFS is covering themselves as best they can by purchasing liscenses to cover live performances. Skaters and their families are now forbidden from posting or sharing video of themselves *with music*. Copyright law is literally decades behind current technology.

The law emphatically states that people cannot perform, share or alter music without the copyright holders' permission. The fines are rather on the expensive side.

Skating in the US has now run into that law by pretty much tripping over their toepicks. We as a community have been flying underneath the radar for years, but now with the lawsuit from a few years back, there is no choice now. The gymnastics community, local theater, etc. all fall under this. We're just... behind the times. And USFS is scrambling a bit to get things under control.

This is a good basic guide to why: https://www.clicknclear.com/sporteducation/figure-skating?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1GfQwqlPJHA1IwxezzKk1DeCAVdbaNzdwMiUWPJ1h6RnLp-5vpa42boY8_aem_EXIXACo4kvPjBaS2vNzebQ

[LunarSkater]

Is it OK to use music which was composed, arranged and performed (3 separate issues!) without copyright, or whose copyrights have expired, in all countries, and to stream that performance with music?

We're not talking all countries with this policy, just the US. Want to go down a rabbit hole? Each country has their own laws and the differences are fascinating.

Do the ISI and ISU have a similar policy, and what is it?

Can't comment on ISI, not a member. The ISU is a governing body of sport - it only regulates how the sport is run, not how member nation laws affect member nations sport organizations.

Choreography (e.g., dance/test patterns) can also be copyrighted. Perhaps distributing videos of a performance, even without music, or with uncopyrighted music, is still a problem?

Different can of worms. But, uh, yes. In short. Same laws technically apply. Please don't go down this route, there's issues enough getting the music situation handled.

[LunarSkater]

I am only trying to figure out how to comply with US and International law. It is not obvious that these ideas comply with USFS rules. But the USFS rules are new - perhaps they could change.

Don't worry about international law. Unless you compete internationally, then it's something to consider. It is not applicable in this specific discussion. The policy FigureSpins posted about is specific to the United States. The rules are new, yes, but unlikely to change much considering they are being put into place to keep within national law.

Using music compositions, arrangements and performances that are not and could not be copyrighted, or whose copyright terms have expired, so that it can be broadcast, distributed and streamed, has several obvious problems

You're missing one - the music is not under copyright, but that specific performance is.

The obvious alternative, contracting with current artist and copyright licensees, for current or new music, for distribution, broadcast and streaming rights, is more expensive, but possible. Read the contract carefully - some have limited scope and duration.

USFS is trying to help its' members by purchasing liscensing for live performance only. There's two different databases members now have access to to see if their song(s) are cleared. There's also a platform called ClickNClear for individual liscensing (they're the link I included above). Streaming, as I mentioned earlier, isn't mentioned in law because its too old and the technology is too new. But from what I understand, streaming is considered to be an unauthorized performance. It's a seperate liscense. (In all technicality, ice rinks should also have these liscenses to cover themselves for music during public skate, etc. Most do. But still, it's a thing.)

You also have the major problem of whether you have to stop distributing, broadcasting and streaming older skating performances, even if you properly licensed the music (& choreography!), but that license did not specifically mention distributing, broadcasting and streaming. That would greatly annoy a lot of people in this forum and elsewhere.

This is 100% correct. By law, none of those videos should have been posted anywhere except by the liscense holder.

[Query]

My point was that some compositions, arrangements and performances are not copyrighted, or have expired copyrights. E.g., if it is more than 70 years since the death of the composer, arranger and performer(s) or license holders. Why wouldn't USFS allow such music?

And why wouldn't USFS allow a skater to pay the composer, arranger and performer for licenses to use, record, broadcast and stream their music?

Or, some music is advertised for sale with a license for use on web pages, though details vary. Even some where you only need attribution.

International copyright matters, because the US honors international copyrights - and because streaming services are accessible from abroad, directly or through VPNs.

BTW, prior USFS[A] arrangements with ASCAP, BMI and maybe SESAC have existed - e.g., see skatingforums.com/index.php?topic=8006.msg95711#msg95711

What might be new are the bots that search streaming services for videos with unlicensed copyrighted music. I think the bot runners contact the artists, and offer to sue, or threaten to sue, the copyright violator. Or file a takedown notice. Or both. Which may be the reason for renewed concern.  (Complicated, because sometimes they detect incorrect violations.)

[LunarSkater]

Query, US copyright law is far more complicated than your example of 70 years past the death of the composer. See here for a good chart explaining it: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/copyright/publicdomain. (It also touches upon your concerns over international copyright.)

The streaming and the bots are part of the problem, but are not really the full cause. As FigureSpins mentioned in the original post, there was an incident this past Olympic cycle regarding music. To put it bluntly, the skaters, USFS, and NBC were sued over illegal performance to and streaming of a song. (https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/olympic-skaters-nbc-settle-with-musicians-over-song-use-2022-07-22/) This new music policy is likely the end result of all the legal fallout.

USFS does not care where the song originated as long as the skater has the rights to use the music. My skating partner is a music official. There has been a lot of discussion in that community since this policy came out; there was a recent competition that he knows about that roughly 30% of the songs were not covered by the liscense agreement (the music official checked out of curiosity). That, and the streaming, is what this policy is trying to stop. It's about making sure the music artists are correctly compensated, that the law is being followed, and that everyone is educated to what they are supposed to be doing. The roll-out of the policy was messy and there are still details being released and clarified, but it is final.

It's not complicated. Skaters and coaches need to perform their due diligence with song choice, recognize that the sport was literally breaking the law with past practices, and adjust accordingly.

[Query]

OMG. It seems like you need a lawyer to figure out whether something is still under copyright.