Brazilian Court to Ban ELFC Sales?

"Today, a Civil Court in Barueri (São Paulo) has targeted Rockstar Games and Synergex Brazil, claiming improper use of the song that made you all dance through Liberty City. "Conga Kid" is said to be an unauthorized sample of "Bota o Dedinho pro Alto", by Brazilian composer Hamilton Lourenço da Silva, father of MC Miltinho (an eight-year-old boy we can see here.)

The injunction says that Rockstar and Synergex "are restricted from trading and distributing the expansion Episodes From Liberty City", and that the game must be collected from stores – not only in Brazil, but worldwide. The decision, apparently, also applies to digital versions of the game. There is a fine of R$ 5,000 (US$ 3,000) for each day the Grand Theft Auto expansion pack continues to be sold.

Rockstar has presented documents authorizing the use of the music, but the signatures were not those of the authors of the lawsuit. So we have copyright issues and an international dispute involving the Brazilian composer, Rockstar Games and the German label Man Recordings, responsible for the music included in The Ballad of Tony Gay."

"A Rockstar spokesperson responded to our inquiry, telling us that the company has not received any notice from the court about this matter and are looking into the news reports from Brazil."