For specialists, artists have sought a shortcut to stardom in songs already assimilated by the public, but this can backfire
Coração Cachorro, Lovezinho, the feminist version of Mulheres and even Million Years Ago. Released at different times and with very different sounds, these songs would have almost nothing in common if it weren't for one detail: all of them were (or still are) the target of copyright disputes.
Although the Brazilian legislation that deals with intellectual property is one of the most restrictive in the world, and precisely because of this, a constant target of criticism, the public has been increasingly surprised with the removal of songs from the platforms.
The most recent episode occurred about two weeks ago, when the composers of the feminist version of the song Mulheres, whose original was popularized by Martinho da Vila, denounced being victims of "censorship" by the song's author, Toninho Geraes.
"It is with great regret that I notify you that the feminist version of Mulheres, original by Toninho Geraes, has been censored and will be removed from all digital platforms," the artist announced on social media.
According to Geraes' lawyer, Fredímio Biasotto Trotta, his record company, Universal Music, gave the rights to the song to Doralyce and Silvia Duffrayer, but had no legal right to do so.
"There was no plagiarism. There is no attempt to pass one work by the other. The music is Women. The problem is that the lyrics were modified and a literary-musical work can only have its lyrics or melody modified or, in this case, distorted, with the express permission of the author, verse by verse. What did not happen", claims the musician's defense.
Toninho also claims his rights in the song Million Years Ago, released by Adele in 2015. According to the musician, the song contains identical parts to Women's Gareth Cattermole.
Another recent copyright dispute case has occurred with Treyce. She has yet to come to an agreement with Sony over the rights to the song, which uses an excerpt from Nelly Furtado's Say It Right.
International Dispute
About a year and a half ago, Toninho Geraes also accused the British singer Adele of plagiarizing the same song and turning it into the chorus of Million Years Ago, released in 2015. According to Trotta, the artist's producer, Greg Kurstin, who signs the track with her, changed only one note of the Women's intro.
The fight is still in the courts and also involves Universal. This is because Toninho Geraes discovered, later, that his publisher was the same as Adele's. "It will be sued, for conflict of interest, since it didn't support him in relation to plagiarism and kept silent about the fact, discovered, that it was also the publisher of the plagiarist herself," reveals the lawyer.
Despite the comments that Adele didn't even know the song existed, the lawyer points out that MPB, especially the one made until the 1990s, is very much targeted by artists looking for a shortcut to complete an album and reach success. "It is a very rich genre from the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic point of view. And it is studied in the biggest music schools on the planet," he ponders.
"Some, wanting to illicitly emplode a hit or complete an album (as was the case with Adele and Kurstin), go to drink improperly from the fountain of the rich MPB and, without shame, plagiarize one of its works. I imagine that they think: 'The author is from South America, he will never know, and if he does, he will not have the strength for a lawsuit. But it's not quite like that.
Just like the alternative version of Mulheres, the song Lovezinho, one of the most played songs at Carnaval this year, was the target of a claim. The melody of the chorus is inspired by the song Say It Right, by Nelly Furtado, which made Sony ask for the removal of the track from all platforms.
Sociologist, Dani Ribas, an audience behavior specialist and music business professor, suggests an explanation for why situations like this are increasingly common. "With the post-pandemic and the interruption of revenue from public performance of concerts, the industry understood that the market for works is a perennial and important revenue," she explains.
"So there is everything from buying catalogs to legally mistaken strategies of recording a work or part of it without prior authorization from the author, just to get a ride on melodies already fully assimilated by people's sensibility. As a 'shortcut' to stardom at a time when everything vies for people's attention and something already known and assimilated is more easily achieved," says the expert.
"But it's a backfire. Lovezinho left the platforms because there was no agreement between the parties," ponders Ribas.
She clarifies that plagiarism of intellectual works has always existed, but that nowadays it is easier to identify it: "Music circulates more and faster through platforms. So the original author can realize and notify the courts more quickly than before. The impression is that there are more cases - and there may be - but the fact is that our perception changes when we have more news on the subject.
Dani still bets that the subject is likely to get even hotter with the use of Artificial Intelligence in the production of new songs. "It could influence discussions about all forms of copyright," he concludes.
Lack of understanding about the legislation
In the evaluation of the Master in Civil Law and specialist in Intellectual Property, Privacy and Data Protection and Computer Law, Luiz Fernando Plastino, another reason for the incidence of disputes involving copyright is the lack of understanding about the legislation.
"Today's disputes seem to come less from an ignorance of the law and more from a divergent understanding of the law. Everyone knows that you can't copy someone else's music, for example, but there is a lot of discussion about the limits of a remix, a mash-up, a version... In these cases, even for lawyers it can sometimes be difficult to tell when the use permitted by law ends and the infraction begins," explains the professional.
"The general rule is the prohibition of using other people's music, except for small excerpts, or by paraphrasing or parodying, and without harming the commercial exploitation of the work or hurting the author's interests in an unjustified way. This can sometimes be difficult to say without a very deep analysis, unless it is an obvious case of copying or misuse," analyzes Plastino.