Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran won a copyright dispute over the song 'Shape Of You', as the court, on Wednesday, observed that the singer “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase form British grime track, ‘Oh Why’, while writing his song.
'Shape Of You' is the most streamed song in Spotify.
Sheeran and co-writers of the song, John McDaid Steve McCutcheon, were accused of copying from 'Oh Why' by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue.
Judge Antony Zacaroli pointed out that while there may be similarities between a phrase used in both the songs, such similarities may only be a starting point for a copyright violation dispute.
‘Shape of You’, released in 2017, had won a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance for the song.
During the hearing, Sheeran told the court that he "always tried to be completely fair" while crediting contributors, and denied that he "borrows" ideas from unknown songwriters.
In a video statement on Instagram after the verdict, the singer said, "I am 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, and it’s really damaging to the songwriting industry. There are only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music and coincidences are bound to happen if 60,000 songs are being released a day on Spotify, that is 22 million songs a year, and there are only 12 notes that are available.”
"I don’t want to take anything away from the pain and hurt suffered from both sides of this case but I just want to say I am not an entity, I am not a corporation, I am a human being, I am a father, I am a husband, I am a son," he said.
