A Brazilian judge has ordered a worldwide ban on the reproduction of the song “Million Years Ago” by British pop star Adele, following a plagiarism complaint by a samba composer.
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The judicial decision, to which AFP had access on Monday, prohibits the Brazilian subsidiaries of Sony Music and Universal Music, the singer’s record labels, “from using, reproducing, editing, distributing or marketing” this title “at the level worldwide” and “in any medium”, under penalty of a fine of 50,000 reais (approximately 7,800 euros).
The composer Toninho Geraes filed a complaint for plagiarism, believing that “Million Years Ago” (2015) had copied the melody of the title “Mulheres”, a success performed by the sacred monster of samba Martinho da Vila in an album released twenty years earlier , in 1995.
“This is a turning point for Brazilian music, which, due to the richness of its melodies, its harmony and its rhythms, is often copied to compose international hits,” lawyer Fredimio told AFP on Monday. Trotta, lawyer of the Brazilian composer.
According to him, this legal decision should “dissuade” other plagiarism attempts by “parasitic profiteers”.
The Brazilian subsidiaries of Sony Music and Universal Music can appeal.
Contacted by AFP, Sony Music said it “has no press release at the moment” on this subject. Universal Music did not immediately respond.
In the complaint for plagiarism currently being analyzed by a court in Rio de Janeiro, Toninho Geraes’ defense is demanding, among other things, one million reais (around 156,000 euros) in damages.
Another controversy over the song “Million Years Ago” had already erupted in Turkey, when Internet users said they had identified similarities with the tune of the title “Acilara tutunmak”, by the Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya, who died in 2000.
Brazil is a signatory to the Berne Convention of 1886 on the international protection of the rights of authors in their works.
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