Ed Sheeran wins “Shape Of You” copyright court case

thefader.com:

Ed Sheeran has emerged successful from a copyright battle that reached the U.K. High Court. Sheeran, alongside his co-writers John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, was sued by Sami Chokri who claimed that his 2015 song "Oh I" had been plagiarised during the making of "Shape Of You." The 2017 Sheeran single was a global hit and is the most played song on Spotify of all time.

During an 11 day trial in March a judge heard Chokri's argument that his song, released under his artist name Sami Switch, was too similar to the Sheeran track, released two years after his, for it to be a coinicidence.

In their defence, Sheeran, McDaid, and McCutcheon argued that they had not even heard "Oh Why" when they wrote their song. Read Next: Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” wins Song of the Year at the 2022 Grammys Judge Antony Zacaroli ruled that Sheeran had "neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied" Chokri's song, though he acknowledged there were "similarities between the one-bar phrase" in "Shape of You" and "Oh Why." This, ultimately, was not enough to convince the judge of guilt on Sheeran's part.

He also ruled that Sheeran had, most likely, not heard "Oh Why" before. In a statement released after the verdict was delivered on Wednesday, Sheeran said Chokri's claims were "baseless" and called on songwriters to support one another rather than pursuing legal action.