Ed Sheeran Wins ‘Shape Of You’ Copyright Lawsuit

Ed Sheeran has provided us with timeless hits over the years. Some of his memorable songs include the likes of Shape Of You. Recently, Ed pulled in a major legal victory over his copyright lawsuit on the hit song.

On Wednesday, the singer won his copyright trial at London’s High Court after a judge ruled that his hit song “Shape of You” did not pick up musical phrases from another track. Judge Antony Zacaroli said that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from British grime track, “Oh Why”, when writing the worldwide smash hit.

‘Shape Of You’ was released in 2017 and it remains the most-streamed song ever on Spotify, with more than three billion streams. The banger earned Sheeran a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance. Ed along with with several others, has a writing credit on the track.

However, two other songwriters, Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, alleged that the song had musical similarities to one they wrote called “Oh Why” The track was performed under Chokri’s stage-name Sami Switch.

Judge Zacaroli ruled on Wednesday that “there are obvious similarities” between hooks in the two songs, but that there were also “important differences”. He stated that while both the songs drew from the minor pentatonic scale, “there are countless songs in the pop, rock, folk and blues genres where the melody is drawn exclusively”

Sheeran attended court during the 11-day trial and burst out the song while humming musical scales and melodies as he was questioned over how the song was written. The singer denied he “borrows” ideas from unknown songwriters and told court he “always tried to be completely fair” in crediting contributors.

Meanwhile, you can revisit Ed’s “Shape of You” below. Stay tuned to Thirsty to get further updates into the music world.

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