Brazilian Judge Bans Streaming of Adele’s ‘Million Years Ago’ in Plagiarism Dispute

Kaya called Acilara Tutunmak (Clinging to Pain), which was released in 1985. Kaya, who passed away in 2000, was not alive to pursue the claim, and his widow suggested such plagiarism was unlikely, AFP reported.

Neither Sony‘s Brazilian subsidiary nor Universal Music Brazil has publicly commented on the current lawsuit. The AFP said the music companies can still appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, AFP noted that Brazil is a signatory to the 1886 Berne Convention, which provides international copyright protections. This will likely strengthen the legal basis for claims of IP infringement.

For Adele, the development comes less than a month after she completed a 50-weekend, 100-show residency in Las Vegas, which began in November 2022.

The nature of the latest case against Adele underscores the potential global consequences of copyright disputes in the digital music era. Other artists who have recently faced copyright infringement claims include Dua Lipa over her megahit Levitating, Megan Thee Stallion over her Savage hit song, Childish Gambino over This Is America, and Ed Sheeran over Thinking Out Loud.