U.S. OLYMPIANS AND NBC GET SUED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT OVER SONG USED IN WINTER OLYMPICS

During the Winter Olympics 2022 which took place from Feb. 4-22 in Beijing, China, two figure skaters along with NBC got sued over using a song during their performance without the artists permission. Robert and Aron Marderosian who are also known as the Heavy Young Heathens, filed their lawsuit in the Central District of California's Southern District against NBC, Brandon Frazier and Alexa Knierim for using a version of the “House of the rising sun” song at the Beijing Olympics. The defendant list goes on with various sources of media distribution. The song is based on a traditional folk tune made famous by "The Animals" in 1964, but the Marderosian brothers have produced their own version which has been featured before in movies as well as other figure skating performances. The lawsuit considers the song as a very valuable asset and seeks not only money in damages but also the future replays of the performance to be blocked.
Meanwhile the Olympic duo managed to secure the silver medal with their performance. It’s worth mentioning that Olympic routines fall under the category of live performances and as such they need music licensing which usually is handled by the performance’s broadcaster, in this case the NBC.