Ed Sheeran, an English singer-songwriter, won a copyright case brought by Sami Chokri, also known as Sami Switch, on Wednesday. Switch stated that Ed Sheeran’s 2017 smash track Shape of You was eerily similar to his song Oh Why. In a judgment, Justice Zacaroli decided that Sheeran did not intentionally or unintentionally copy a sentence from the latter. Following the decision, Sheeran resorted to social media to allege that such charges are unfounded and all too prevalent. He stated:
“While we are certainly pleased with the outcome, I believe that claims like this are much too prevalent presently and that there is a culture in which a claim is filed with the expectation that settling would be less expensive than going to court.” Even if there is no foundation for the assertion.”
Sheeran continued:
“It’s really harmful to the songwriting business.” Pop music uses a limited number of notes and extremely few chords. When 60,000 songs are posted on Spotify every day, coincidence is unavoidable.”
The following is a joint statement issued by Johnny McDaid and Steven McCutcheon, who co-wrote Shape Of You with Sheeran:
“There is a price to pay for our mental wellness.” This puts a tremendous amount of strain on everyone involved. It has an impact on so many elements of our daily life as well as the lives of our family and friends. We are not businesses. We are not things. We are all humans. We’re lyricists. We do not want to minimize anyone’s grief or anguish as a result of this, but we also believe it is vital to admit that we, too, have had our own pains and life challenges as a result of this process.”
The final decision in Ed Sheeran’s copyright lawsuit has been issued.
Sami Chokri has previously claimed that Sheeran had plagiarized certain lyrics and phrases from Oh Why, as well as the chorus. Chokri’s attorneys described Sheeran as a magpie who “borrows concepts and tosses them into his songs.” Chokri also said that he submitted the song Oh Why to Sheeran’s inner circle in the hopes of working with him, but never received a response.
Justice Zacaroli issued the following decision in a written decision on Wednesday:
“While the OW Hook and the OI Phrase have some similarities, they also have some notable variances.” In terms of the aspects that are comparable, my research of the musical elements of Shape in general, as well as the composition process and the history of the OI Phrase, provides persuasive evidence that the OI Phrase came from sources other than Oh Why.”
Katty Perry’s decision was followed by Ed Sheeran’s judgment.
Ed Sheeran’s decision comes just weeks after American pop artist Katy Perry won a copyright infringement lawsuit for her popular ballad Dark Horse ft. Juicy J, which had been pending since 2014. In Katy Perry’s case, a jury decision was reversed by a court. Gary, also known as Flame, had observed that Perry’s Dark Horse sounded similar to his song Joyful Noise.
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