British singer, Ed Sheeran, has denied copyright claims as he revealed to a High Court that he does not “borrow” ideas from unknown songwriters without credit.
This followed the singer-songwriter, being accused by two other songwriters, of copying parts of his 2017 hit, ‘Shape Of You’. Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue’s, who are the accusers, suggested that Sheeran treated lesser-known songwriters differently from famous ones.
Sheeran denied this, telling the court he had cleared parts of songs with “lots” of unknown artists.
‘Shape of You’ was number one for 14 weeks in the UK in 2017, becoming the best-selling song of the year around the world.
Chokri and O’Donoghue claimed that the song’s ‘Oh I’ hook is “strikingly similar” to part of their track ‘Oh Why’, which was released by Chokri under the name, Sami Switch, in 2015.
Barrister Andrew Sutcliffe QC, who is the lawyer of Chokri and O’Donoghue, claimed Sheeran “borrows ideas and throws them into his songs, sometimes he will acknowledge it but sometimes he won’t”.
However, Sheeran denied the claim that he lifts other people’s work without acknowledgment, pointing out that he has often shared credit with lesser-known artists, including ‘Shivers’ and ‘Visiting Hours’, and a song that sampled an “unknown composer’s” work from ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’.
“All those examples are not famous artists that we’ve cleared songs with and that’s what I have to say on that” says Ed Sheeran.
Sheeran created ‘Shape of You’ with co-writers, Steve Mac, and Johnny McDaid, both of whom were also in court. After its release, Sheeran added the team behind TLC’s 1999 single, ‘No Scrubs’, to the song’s writing credits, after some commentators pointed out similarities.
Mr Sutcliffe told the star: “The evidence is overwhelming that at the time of writing ‘Shape of You’, your songwriting process involved collecting ideas”.
Sheeran then replied: “You say it’s overwhelming, I don’t agree with that”.
In written evidence, the singer noted that the contested element of ‘Shape of You’ was “very short”, and the relevant parts of both songs were “entirely commonplace”.
“Even so, if I had heard ‘Oh Why’ at the time and had referenced it, I would have taken steps to clear it. I have always tried to be completely fair in crediting anyone who makes any contribution to any song I write”.
Ed Sheeran
According to Sheeran, he refers to other works on occasion when he writes, as do many songwriters.
He noted that if there is a reference to another work, he notifies his team, so that, steps can be taken to obtain clearance.
“I have been as scrupulous as I possibly can, and have even given credits to people who I believe may have been no more than a mere influence for a songwriting element. This is because, I want to treat other songwriters fairly”.
Edd Sheeran
Sheeran testified that he mostly works in collaboration with other writers, and that it’s often hard to identify who has written each individual part of a song once it’s finished.
Referencing his ‘Shape of You’ co-writer, Johnny McDaid, he said: “My and Johnny’s writing partnership is very much like a game of tennis. He’ll say something and I’ll say something back. We’re quite quick when we go back and forth”.
In May 2018, Sheeran and his co-writers issued proceedings asking the High Court to declare they had not infringed Chokri and O’Donoghue’s copyright. The pair then issued a counter claim for copyright infringement. The trial is expected to continue for about three weeks.
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