Huge Adele song ordered to be removed from streaming worldwide over plagiarism claim

A judge has ordered that a huge Adele song must be pulled from streaming platforms over a copyright claim.

Since her breakthrough hits 'Rolling in the Deep' and 'Someone Like You', British singer Adele has gone on to cement herself as one of this generation's biggest pop singers.

However, the 36-year-old is currently facing copyright claims over a track from her 2015 album 25.

Adele is facing copyright claims over one of her songs (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for AD)

The injunction was made by Brazilian composer Toninho Geraes, who alleged that Adele's song 'Million Years Ago' has plagiarised the music from his samba track 'Mulheres (Women)', which had been recorded by singer Brazilian singer Martinho da Vila in 1995.

According to a report published in The Guardian, Geraes is now suing for lost royalties, $160,000 (£125,827) in 'moral damages' and a songwriting credit on Adele's track.

A judge in Brazil has now issued a major blow to the singer, after an order was made on Friday (13 December), which ordered that 'Million Years Ago' be pulled from streaming platforms worldwide pending further activity on the case.

According to the ruling, which had been obtained by AFP, the injunction has ordered the singer's record labels to cease 'immediately and globally, from using, reproducing, editing, distributing or commercialising the song Million Years Ago, by any modality, means, physical or digital support, streaming or sharing platform'.

The injunction also threatens the Brazilian subsidiaries of Adele's labels - Sony and Universal - with a fine of $8,000 (£6,300) per act of 'non-compliance'. The music companies can both appeal the decision.

"It is a landmark for Brazilian music, which … has often been copied to compose successful international hits," said lawyer Fredimio Trotta, who is representing Geraes, in a statement to AFP.

At the time of writing (17 December), 'Million Years Ago' is still available to stream on YouTube and Adele's Spotify page, with the former having been viewed 135M times.

This isn't the first time Adele has faced copyright claims over the instrumentals on 'Million Years Ago' either.

A judge in Brazil has ordered the track be pulled from streaming platforms (Denise Truscello/Getty Images for AD)

In 2015, Adele was accused by fans in Turkey who alleged the track was similar to 1985 song 'Acilara Tutunmak' by Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya. These claims would later be disputed by Kaya's widow Gulten Kaya, who told a Turkish newspaper that she did not believe any similarities were 'intentional'.

Following a request for comment from The Guardian, Sony Brazil said it did 'not have a statement at this time', while Universal Music Brazil did not immediately respond to the request.

LADbible Group has reached out to Adele, Sony and Universal for comment.