MILAN (AP) — U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn says she has smoothed out copyright concerns with the artist behind one of the pieces of her free skate music, and that the Olympic team gold medalist may have struck up a new friendship with him because of it.
Canadian artist Seb McKinnon, who produces music under the name CLANN, had taken to social media after Glenn performed her free skate to conclude the team event Sunday and expressed surprise that his song, “The Return,” was used as part of the program.
“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?” McKinnon posted to X, eventually congratulating Glenn on her gold medal.
Figure skaters are required to obtain copyright permission for the music they use. But the process is confusing and prone to mistakes, and several skaters have changed programs at the last minute for the Milan Cortina Games because problems have arisen.
“The issue of music rights can be complex and confusing,” Glenn said in a statement. “Seems like there was a hiccup in that whole process. I’m glad we cleared things up with Seb and I look forward to collaborating with him.”
Recommended for you
Glenn has been performing her free skate to “The Return” for the past two years without any issues.
“It was a dream come true to perform at the Olympic Games and to have Seb acknowledge my performance and congratulate me afterward made the moment even more special,” Glenn said. “It’s my sincere hope that I was able to help create new fans of both figure skating and Seb. We will move forward and continue supporting both artists and the skating community.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.