Copy of Knight Rider's Talking Car Sold at Hasselhoff Auction

David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)
David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)
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Copy of Knight Rider's Talking Car Sold at Hasselhoff Auction

David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)
David Hasselhoff poses with a replica of himself built for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, during an auction in Beverly Hills, California. (Reuters)

A copy of KITT, the talking car from the Knight Rider series and dozens of other memorabilia were sold at David Hasselhoff's auction on Saturday.

The car attracted about 30 bids at an online auction and finally sold for $300,000, according to the auction's website.

The identity of the buyer has not yet been disclosed.

The auctioneer said the fully functional car, which was parked in Britain waiting for a new owner, belonged to Hasselhoff but was not used in the series.

Pieces of clothing and other belongings of Hasselhoff from Baywatch were also among the auctioned memorabilia, most of them sold for several hundreds of dollars.

The dinner offer with the star fetched only $9,000, much less than the expected price of $20,000.

Hasselhoff's fame peaked in the 1980s and 1990s when he starred as a singer in hit TV shows, and was mostly known for his song "Looking for Freedom".

The career of the 68-year-old German actor and singer has faded in the past years.

Hasselhoff promoted "The Hoff" auction on Twitter and Instagram for several weeks. In a video he shared Saturday, he claimed he will allocate a big sum of the auction's revenues for charities.



Brazilian Judge Orders Adele Song Removed over Plagiarism Claim

British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)
British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)
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Brazilian Judge Orders Adele Song Removed over Plagiarism Claim

British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)
British singer Adele poses on the red carpet upon her arrival for the BRIT Awards 2022 in London on February 8, 2022. (AFP)

A judge in Rio de Janeiro has ordered the global removal of a 2015 song by British singer Adele due to a plagiarism claim by a Brazilian musician, which Universal Music is fighting on appeal. The ruling, made public on Monday, came in a case filed this year by Toninho Geraes, whose compositions were made famous by some of Brazil's most acclaimed samba singers.

Geraes accused Adele of copying his song "Mulheres", a national hit since the 1990s. His lawyers uploaded to YouTube a comparison of that song and Adele's "Million Years Ago".

"The ruling shows that the Brazilian justice system is strong and that injuries to Brazilian artists won't be ignored," said Fredimio Biasotto Trotta, a lawyer for Geraes.

The decision orders Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music to immediately cease "using, reproducing, editing, distributing, or commercializing" the song by any means on streaming or sharing platforms, without Geraes' consent. It set a fine of 50,000 reais ($8,080.94) if the companies fail to comply with the order.

The Berne Convention, an international treaty, orders other signatory countries, including the US, to comply with legal decisions regarding copyright, Trotta said.

Geraes' lawyers are now notifying streaming services, such as Spotify and Deezer, to withdraw the song in Brazil and globally. On Wednesday morning, the song was still widely available.

Universal appealed the decision on Tuesday, arguing there was no plagiarism, only an "accidental melodic similarity" due to the use of "musical clichés."

Both Adele and Geraes have contracts with Universal, but the Brazilian musician has been trying to terminate his contract with the company due to his plagiarism claim, his lawyer said.

"I felt very disrespected," Geraes told Reuters. He is asking the courts for compensation of more than $150,000. Lawyers representing Universal Music declined to comment, and Sony Music did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Geraes learned of the similarities between the two songs after a friend, who is also a composer, heard Adele's "Million Years Ago" at a party in 2021.