Musical “magpie” Ed Sheeran in court over Shape Of You song theft claims

completemusicupdate.com:

Ed Sheeran is a musical “genius” but also a musical “magpie” who borrows from other people’s work when he’s writing his pop songs.

Sometimes he borrows from the work of superstars, who get their credits. Other times he borrows from lesser known artists, who do not.

Or at least, that’s what lawyers working for musicians Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue claimed in the UK high court on Friday.This particular song theft battle is the one over Sheeran’s song ‘Shape Of You’ which – Chokri and O’Donoghue argue – rips off an earlier song their wrote called ‘Oh Why’.In this particular dispute, Sheeran actually went legal first after Chokri and O’Donoghue’s claims of song theft led to royalties due through the collective licensing system being put on hold.