The song “Million Years Ago” by singer Adele, released in 2015, has just been banned worldwide. A Brazilian judge ordered a ban on its reproduction after samba composer Toninho Geraes filed a plagiarism complaint.
The judicial decision 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 a global level” and “in any medium”, under penalty a fine of 50,000 reais (approximately 7,800 euros).
The composer Toninho Geraes filed a complaint for plagiarism, believing that “Million Years Ago” had copied the melody of the title “Mulheres”, a hit 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”. Contacted, Sony Music said it “does not have a press release at the moment” on this subject and Universal Music did not immediately respond. The Brazilian subsidiaries of Sony Music and Universal Music can appeal.
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.
