Re: Rights to music at sports events

Speaking from my experience as a figure skater, we use uncleared music all the time, at least up to Sectionals. I don't know about National championship level. I have never heard of anyone (other than me) either thinking of the copyright question, nor of any copyright owner coming to a skater etc.

Doesn't mean it's right, of course.

Interestingly, the skating "program" is

(a) extremely reliant on the music, to the point that when a tape
breaks, the skater will usually stop (with a signal exception at a World Championship, where it happened to the team that won -- a memorable skate)

(b) definitely a derivative work. BTW, it is considered very bad form,
but not illegal, among skaters to crib someone else's music or program; and people have twice asked me if they could use a move I invented. (I said yes.)

Bill Thayer
<petworth[_at_]suba.com> Received on Tue Apr 29 1997 - 16:07:49 GMT