Ed Sheeran denies 'borrowing' from other songwriters in witness box for copyright trial

msn.com:

Ed Sheeran appeared in court this morning as his plagiarism case continues. The singer-songwriter, 31, is fighting a copyright claim against his monster hit Shape Of You, which two songwriters claim rips off parts of their track.

Writers Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue allege that the 2017 hit infringes ‘particular lines and phrases’ of their own song Oh Why, released in 2015.

Mr Sheeran and his co-writers of Shape Of You, Steven McCutcheon and John McDaid, began legal proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to declare they had not infringed Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue’s copyright.

Two months later, Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue issued their own claim for ‘copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement. ’The trial began on Friday and is expected to last for three weeks.