Ed Sheeran wins copyright case over hit song ‘Shape of You’

Grammy Award-winning musician Ed Sheeran won a copyright dispute in the United Kingdom over his 2017 hit ‘Shape of You’ on Wednesday. The British pop star and his co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, have denied claims that the song plagiarised a section of Sami Chokri’s ‘Oh Why’ from 2015.

In a video posted on Twitter, Sheeran said, ‘Whilst we’re obviously happy with the result, I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there is no basis for the claim. It’s really damaging to the songwriting industry’.

The lawyer for the co-writers of ‘Oh Why’, Andrew Sutcliffe said that the compositions were indisputably identical. He added that when Sheeran wrote ‘Shape of You’ in 2016, he had ‘Oh Why’ in his brain consciously or unintentionally. The plaintiffs claimed that the chorus ‘Oh I, Oh I, Oh I’ in ‘Shape Of You’ was strikingly similar to their song phrase ‘Oh why, Oh why, Oh why’.

Sheeran refuted charges that he borrows ideas from unknown composers without acknowledging them throughout the 11-day trial, claiming that he has always been fair in crediting individuals who contribute to his albums.

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Judge Antony Zacaroli of the High Court ruled on Wednesday that Sheeran neither purposefully nor unconsciously plagiarised a line from ‘Oh Why?’

In a statement, Sheeran, McDaid and Mac said the dispute cost them more than money. They added that the stress of going to trial hinders creativity, leaves them with less time to compose music and takes an emotional toll. ‘It is so painful to hear someone publicly and aggressively challenge your integrity’, the trio said, adding ‘It is so painful to have to defend yourself against accusations that you have done something that you haven’t done, and would never do’.

In 2017, Shape of You was the best-selling song in the United Kingdom.