Brazilian Judge’s Ruling on Adele’s Song
A Brazilian judge has ordered the removal of Adele’s song A Million Years Ago from streaming platforms worldwide, following a plagiarism lawsuit filed by a Brazilian composer.
The injunction, issued by Judge Victor Torres in the Sixth Commercial Court of Rio de Janeiro, requires Adele‘s record companies, Sony Music and Universal Music Group, to “immediately and globally cease the use, reproduction, editing, distribution or commercialization of the song.” The ruling prohibits any means of distribution—physical or digital, streaming, or sharing platforms—according to the judge’s preliminary decision. This information was reported to AFP.
Details of the Lawsuit
The ruling also imposes a fine of 8000 US dollars for each violation, AFP reported.
The case was initiated by Brazilian composer Toninho Geras in 2021. The composer alleges that Adele’s 2015 track is a plagiarized version of his classic samba, Muleres (Women), originally recorded by Brazilian singer Martinho da Bila in 1995. Geras is seeking lost royalties amounting to US$160,000, compensation for moral damages, and songwriting credits on Adele’s track.
“International producers and artists who… keep Brazilian music ‘on their radar’ for possible parasitic exploitation will think twice about making this decision.” Fredimio Trotta, lawyer
A Million Years Ago is believed to have been written by Adele and produced by Greg Kurstin. Part of Adele’s 25 album, it has amassed nearly 224 million streams on Spotify and 22 million views on YouTube to date. Describing the song in 2015, Adele told Billboard: “This is kind of a story about… I was driving past Brockwell Park, a park in South London that I used to live near. This is where I spent most of my youth. There are quite monumental moments in my life there, I drove past it and literally burst into tears.”
Implications for the Music Industry
Geras’ lawyer, Fredimio Trotta, stated to AFP: “This is a milestone for Brazilian music, which… has often been copied to create successful international hits… International producers and artists who… keep Brazilian music ‘on their radar’ for possible parasitic exploitation will think twice about making this decision,” the lawyer added.
The injunction against Adele mandates a complete global shutdown of A Million Years Ago across all platforms, including streaming services, physical media, and broadcast channels. Trotta’s legal team intends to inform broadcasters and streaming services worldwide regarding the court’s ruling.
This is not the first instance of Adele facing plagiarism accusations. In 2015, Turkish music aficionados claimed that the track resembled a song by Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya titled Achilara Tutunmak (Clinging to the Pain), released in 1985. As Kaya passed away in 2000, he couldn’t bring the claim, and his widow suggested that such plagiarism was unlikely, as reported by AFP.
Neither Sony’s Brazilian subsidiary nor Universal Music Brazil has publicly commented on the ongoing lawsuit. AFP noted that music companies could still appeal the decision.
In the meantime, AFP pointed out that Brazil is a participant in the Berne Convention of 1886, which provides international copyright protection, further solidifying the legal grounds for intellectual property infringement claims.
For Adele, this development follows less than a month after she completed 50 weekends and 100 shows in her Las Vegas residency, which commenced in November 2022.
This latest case against Adele underscores the potential global repercussions of copyright disputes in the age of digital music. Other artists recently facing copyright infringement claims include Dua Lipa for her mega hit Levitating, Megan Thee Stallion for her chart-topping song Wild, Childish Gambino for This is America, and Ed Sheeran over Thinking Out Loud.
Brazilian judge imposes global streaming ban on Adele’s ‘Million Years Ago’ in plagiarism dispute
