A judge has ordered an Adele song be pulled worldwide over a plagiarism claim made by a Brazilian composer.
The preliminary injunction by Brazilian judge Victor Torres in Rio de Janeiro’s sixth commercial court on Friday, was made in relation to Adele’s 2015 track Million Years Ago, which a composer claims plagiarises the song Mulheres (Women), recorded by Brazilian singer Martinho da Vila in 1995.
The plagiarism case, which was brought in 2021 by the track’s composer Toninho Geraes, is ongoing, but the injunction demands the song be pulled while it continues.
The injunction, according to reports citing global news agency AFP, orders the record labels to stop “immediately and globally, from using, reproducing, editing, distributing or commercializing the song Million Years Ago, by any modality, means, physical or digital support, streaming or sharing platform”.
It threatens the Brazilian subsidiaries of Sony and Universal, the British pop star’s labels, with a fine of $8,000 (£6,300) “per act of non-compliance”, the reports say.
Fredimio Trotta, the lawyer for Mr Geraes, told Sky News the ruling came after they “started to request tougher measures” from the court as the case continued to drag out.
Mr Trotta said: “The decision interrupts this harmful, criminal act, and now time is running out against those being prosecuted. Because interrupted plagiarism is plagiarism that doesn’t make a profit.”
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Ultimately, Mr Geraes is suing for lost royalties, $160,000 (£126,000) in damages, plus song-writing credit on Adele’s track.
Sky News has contacted Adele’s representatives, Sony and Universal for comment.
Adele, 36, bid a tearful farewell to fans last month at the end of her 100-night Las Vegas residency show, revealing she doesn’t know when she would return to performing as she needed “a rest”.
The artist rose to fame as a 19-year-old in 2008 with her first album “19”, before releasing her second album, 21, in 2011, and 25, in 2015.
Her second album is the fourth best-selling album of all time in the UK, behind Queen, ABBA, and The Beatles.
