Adele accused of plagiarism: a judge orders the withdrawal of the song

In a plagiarism lawsuit brought by composer Toninho Geraes, who claims that Adele’s 2015 song “Million Years Ago” copies the music of her samba classic “Mulheres,” a Brazilian judge has ruled that the song British pop star is withdrawn from circulation worldwide, including from streaming platforms.

As reported by the Guardian, the Brazilian subsidiaries of Sony and Universal, Adele’s labels, risk a fine of 8 thousand dollars “for act of non-compliance” if they do not comply with the decision. Record companies, however, can still appeal.

The injunction was issued Friday by Judge Victor Torres, at the Sixth Commercial Court in Rio de Janeiro, pending further activity in the ongoing plagiarism case. The preliminary injunction, obtained by AFP on Monday, orders Sony and Universal to “immediately and globally cease all use, reproduction, modification, distribution or marketing of the song ‘Million years ago’, in any manner whatsoever, medium, physical or digital support, streaming or sharing platform”.

“It is a milestone for Brazilian music, often copied to compose international successes,” Fredimio Trotta, the lawyer of Brazilian composer Toninho Geraes, who filed the complaint for plagiarism against Adele’s song, claiming it is the same, told AFP to “Mulheres”, recorded by singer Martinho da Vila in 1995. Geraes then asked for 160 thousand dollars in moral damages, plus composer credits for the pop star’s song.

Adele had already found herself involved in a plagiarism accusation for “Million years ago”, when in 2015 the melody of the song was deemed too similar to that of a song created by the Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya in 1985, entitled “Acilara Tutunmak”. However, the widow of the singer, who passed away in 2000, said that it was unlikely that a world star of the caliber of the “Hello” voice could do such a thing.