Due to a recent court ruling, one of Adele’s most popular songs faces a worldwide ban.
A plagiarism accusation has seen the British Grammy-award-winning singer’s 2015 hit ‘Million Years Ago’ be pulled worldwide, including on streaming services.
Toninho Geraes, a Brazilian composer has threatened the Brazilian subsidiaries of Sony and Universal, Adele’s labels, with a fine of $8,000 “per act of non-compliance” over accusations of plagiarism of the song Mulheres (Women), recorded by Brazilian singer Martinho da Vila back in 1995.
The injunction was made by Judge Victor Torres on Friday, in Rio de Janeiro’s sixth commercial court, pending further activity in the continuing plagiarism case, according to the Guardian who also reported that the music companies can still appeal the decision.
His preliminary injunction, obtained on Monday by AFP, ordered Sony and Universal 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.”
Geraes is suing for lost royalties, $160,000 in moral damages, plus songwriting credit on the hit song.
In the wake of the court ruling, the legal team representing Geraes stated: “It is a landmark for Brazilian music, which… has often been copied to compose successful international hits.
“International producers and artists who have Brazilian music ‘on their radar’ for possible parasitic use will think twice, given this decision,” they added, per a report by The Sun.
It was also said that news stations, television broadcasters, and streaming services will be alerted to the ruling as soon as possible.
Sony Music Entertainment Brazil said it did “not have a statement at this time” and Universal Music Brazil has not yet addressed the issue, according to the outlet.
Upon hearing the news, fans took to social media to express their sadness about the decision.
“Million years ago is way too good to be pulled,” wrote one user, while another added: “THE APPEAL BETTER WIN COS I LISTEN TO THIS SONG AND WAIL (FREQUENTLY). DONT MAKE ME BUY THE VINYL OMG. IM PANICKING.”
A third stated: “We’re going to war.”
This is not the first time ‘Million Years Ago’ has been in hot water for potential plagiarism as Turkish music fans claimed its tune was similar to one in a 1985 song by a Kurdish singer, Ahmet Kaya, titled ‘Acilara Tutunmak’ AKA ‘Clinging to Pain.’
