A Brazilian court has delivered a major setback to Adele’s music catalog, ruling that her 2015 song “Million Years Ago” must be removed from all streaming platforms worldwide due to allegations of copyright violation.
Judge Victor Torres from the Sixth Commercial Court of Rio de Janeiro issued an injunction on Friday demanding the removal of the song from streaming services and other global platforms. The ruling warns the Brazilian branches of Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music of an “$8,000 fine per instance of non-compliance,” according to The New York Post.
The lawsuit arises from claims that Adele’s ballad, co-written with producer Greg Kurstin, plagiarizes “Mulheres,” a samba classic by Martinho Da Vila. The legal action was filed in 2021 by songwriter Toninho Geraes, who is seeking lost royalties, $160,000 in damages, and a songwriting credit on Adele’s track, as reported by People.
The court has instructed Adele’s record labels to “immediately and globally stop using, reproducing, editing, distributing, or commercializing the song ‘Million Years Ago’ in any form, whether physical or digital, including through streaming or sharing platforms.”
Geraes’ lawyer, Fredimio Trotta, praised the ruling as a significant moment for Brazilian music, which has often been used in international hits without proper credit. He said, “International producers and artists who have Brazilian music ‘on their radar’ for potential exploitative use will now think twice, given this decision.”
Trotta further stressed that the ruling halts “this harmful, criminal act” and noted that “plagiarism that doesn’t generate profit is no longer profitable.”
This isn’t the first time that “Million Years Ago” has faced accusations of plagiarism, as The New York Post mentions. In 2015, supporters of late Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya argued that Adele’s song copied Kaya’s 1985 track “Acilara Tutunmak” (“Holding On to Pain”). However, these allegations never led to legal proceedings.
The song holds deep personal meaning for Adele, who shared its inspiration during a 2015 special with Graham Norton for Adele at the BBC. “It’s kind of a story about… I drove past Brockwell Park, which is a park in South London I used to live by,” she explained. “It’s where I spent a lot of my youth. It has quite monumental moments of my life that I’ve spent there, and I drove past it and I just literally burst into tears.”
She continued, reflecting on the song’s significance: “I really missed it, for no other reason than we’ve all got different things going on and it’s got nothing to do with me not feeling like I can’t go and sit in there and drink a bottle of cider anymore… it’s more that life happens, so I’ve got no one to meet there.”
Adele also added, “I never realized that this was going to happen. I never, ever realized when I had my guitar in the park, singing to my friends… we never in a million years thought this would ever happen.” “Million Years Ago” was featured on Adele’s third album 25, which also included hits like “Hello” and “When We Were Young.”
