Madonna guilty of plagiarism, Belgian judge rules

A Belgian judge has left Madonna out in the cold, freezing sales and forbidding air play of her 1998 hit single Frozen in that country, after a plagiarism suit.

Belgian songwriter Salvatore Acquaviva accused Madonna of plagiarizing his song, Ma vie fout l'camp (My Life's Getting Nowhere), which he wrote in 1993.

Acquaviva's lawyer announced on Friday that a judge in the Belgian town of Mons had ruled in his favour.

As a result, Frozen, from the album Ray of Light, has been banned from sale and broadcast in Belgium.

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"The judge has ruled Madonna must withdraw from sales all remaining discs, and orders that TV and radio can no longer play Frozen," the lawyer, Victor-Vincent Dehin, said.

Record stores have been given 15 days to remove it from their shelves. The penalty for not complying is 150,000 euros ($208,440).

Damages have not been set. Madonna can appeal the ruling.