Brussels: Rock superstar Madonna's hit Frozen was partly a copy of a song by Belgian artist
Salvatore Acquaviva.
The song can no longer be distributed in the country, a judge in Belgium's southern city of Mons ruled.
"I give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar," said judge Xavier Hiernaux after reaching his verdict in Acquaviva's case against music industry giants Warner, EMI and Sony.
He found that Frozen used four bars from Ma vie fout l'camp' - which loosely translates as My Life Goes up in Smoke - and that the similarities between the tunes were more than coincidental.
Hiernaux ordered Warner, EMI and Sony to send a copy of his ruling to distribution houses and media in Belgium within two weeks or face fines.
Acquaviva argued that Madonna, whose song from the 1998 album Ray of Light reached number two on the music charts in the United States, had visited Mouscron, which is not far from
Mons, in the late 1970s and that she must have heard his song released in 1979.
A virtual unknown at the time, Madonna had come to Belgium seeking to join a dance troupe being set up for
Patrick Hernandez, who had just made it big with his disco number Born to Be Alive'.
Acquaviva's lawyer said: "This is only a first step, although it certainly is an important one. Now comes the hard
part. The royalties earned from Frozen have to be discussed."
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