Copyright fights in 2026: from Minions on ice to a guitar shape in court

Two copyright disputes in very different arenas moved forward this year. Both show how far licensing fights now reach beyond record labels and publishers. In figure skating, a last-minute reversal saved an Olympic routine. In the guitar business, a retailer decided to test a design claim in court.

Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté, the six-time Spanish national champion, will make his Olympic debut in the men's singles event starting 10 February at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, according to The Guardian. His short program is built around music from the Minions films. He had submitted the track months earlier through the International Skating Union's recommended rights-clearance process.

Universal reconsiders after a public push

Last week he learned the routine would not be cleared for Olympic use, even though he had skated it all season, including at the European championships in Sheffield. Then Universal gave permission.

Huge THANK YOU to everyone who reposted, shared and supported. Because of you Universal Studios reconsidered and officially granted the rights for this one special occasion.

Guarino Sabaté wrote that on Instagram, according to The Guardian. He added that two other pieces of music in the program still needed to be cleared. The skater, who performs in a yellow shirt and blue overalls, said the routine was meant to show that men's figure skating can balance technical difficulty with humour.

The near-miss is not unusual. The Guardian reported that Canadian ice dancers Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac lost two Prince songs planned for their 1990s-themed rhythm dance, even though the tracks had been approved for the rest of the season. At the Beijing Olympics in 2022, American pairs champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier were hit with a copyright lawsuit over a cover of House of the Rising Sun. It was later settled privately for a sum understood by the Guardian to be around $1.4m. Canadian pairs skaters Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps abandoned a Phil Collins cover after being quoted a fee in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The ISU director-general, Colin Smith, told the Guardian the problem is structural: "the music industry has no common clearance platform." Smith said the ISU is working with the IOC and the music industry on what he called a multi-pronged approach.

A retailer takes Fender to court

In the guitar market, Thomann is suing Fender over its recent wave of cease-and-desist letters, Guitar World reported on 22 June. The company describes itself as the world's largest music retailer. Its in-house brand Harley Benton received one of those letters, and Thomann says it is acting for other brands and smaller manufacturers too.

"After careful consideration, we have decided to take legal action," a statement on the Thomann blog reads. "We have done so because we are convinced that the questions raised here go far beyond a mere legal dispute and affect the future of diversity, innovation and competition in our industry."

Thomann names custom shop brands and innovators it believes are at risk, including Tyler, Tom Anderson, Suhr, LsL, Maybach, Pensa, FGN and PRS. The retailer was founded in 1954, the same year Fender launched the Stratocaster, and has carried the brand for over 70 years. Its CEO, Hans Thomann, said many of those affected lack the financial and legal means to fight such a case.

Fender's campaign follows a default ruling in March by the Regional Court of Dusseldorf, which granted enforceable rights against guitars using the Stratocaster body shape in the EU. Cease-and-desist letters went out in May. Fender has framed its actions as working with companies to find practical paths forward, but prominent YouTubers have criticised the company and some have cut ties.

Thomann will argue that the Stratocaster is not a copyrightable work of art. That echoes industry lawyer Ronald Bienstock and the Dusseldorf court's view that ergonomics, not protected design, drove its success. In a statement, Thomann urged Fender to stop issuing demands against manufacturers, distributors and dealers and return to what it called a fair, cooperative partnership.

Both cases turn on the same awkward question: who controls a piece of culture once it has travelled far beyond its owner. A skater got his answer in days. Fender's may take longer.