John Macdaid: Last News

Ed Sheeran and two of his songwriting partners, Steven McCutcheon and Snow Patrol‘s John McDaid, have been awarded £900,000 in legal costs following a High Court copyright win.The three artists – who worked together on Sheeran’s 2017 single ‘Shape Of You’ – had been accused of lifting from a song, ‘Oh Why’, by musicians Sami Chokri (aka Sami Switch) and Ross O’Donoghue. The pair claimed Sheeran’s song featured “particular lines and phrases” similar to their own song, calling him “a magpie”.Sheeran, McCutcheon and McDaid denied accusations of plagiarism, with the former saying in his testimony on March 7: “I have always tried to be completely fair in crediting anyone who makes any contribution to any song I write.” McDaid, in his testimony, called the idea of plagiarism “abhorrent”.On April 6, the justice in the case ruled in favour of Sheeran, saying he “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from ‘Oh Why’ when writing ‘Shape Of You’.Yesterday (June 21), Justice Zacaroli awarded Sheeran and his co-writers £916,200.

Ed Sheeran and his co-songwriters have been awarded over £900,000 in legal costs after winning their High Court copyright trial over the hit Shape Of You earlier this year.At a trial in March, the singer and co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, faced accusations that their track ripped off a 2015 song by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue.However, Mr Justice Zacaroli concluded Mr Sheeran ‘neither deliberately nor subconsciously’ copied a phrase in the song.Mr Sheeran, his co-authors and their music companies originally launched 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 – a grime artist who performs under the name Sami Switch – and Mr O’Donoghue issued their own claim for ‘copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement’. The pair had alleged that an ‘Oh I’ hook in Shape Of You is ‘strikingly similar’ to an ‘Oh Why’ refrain in their own track.But in his previous judgment, Mr Justice Zacaroli concluded: ‘Mr Sheeran had not heard Oh Why and in any event that he did not deliberately copy the Oh I phrase from the Oh Why hook.’He dismissed the counterclaim and granted a declaration to Mr Sheeran and his fellow songwriters that they had not infringed the copyright in Oh Why.Following the ruling, lawyers for Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue had said that Mr Sheeran and the other claimants should pay their own legal costs, claiming they had failed to provide documents and demonstrated ‘awkwardness and opacity’.

Ed Sheeran is a now a father-of two.  The singer and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, announced on Instagram on Thursday that they have welcomed their second baby girl to their family.  "Want to let you all know we’ve had another beautiful baby girl," Sheeran captioned the image. "We are both so in love with her, and over the moon to be a family of 4 x." Ed Sheeran and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, have welcomed their second baby girl.

Ed Sheeran has addressed his recent court victory after being sued for copyright infringement over his 2017 hit “Shape of You”.

The British pop star and his co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, had denied allegations that the song copied part of 2015’s “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch.Sheeran took to Twitter on Wednesday and expressed relief at his legal victory in Britain, though he decried what he called a “culture” of baseless lawsuits intended to squeeze money out of artists eager to avoid the expense of a trial.“Whilst we’re 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,” Sheerhan said in a video posted on Twitter.

Ed Sheeran has emerged successful from a copyright battle that reached the U.K. High Court.

High Court judge has ruled. At a trial last month, the singer and his Shape Of You co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, faced accusations that they ripped off the 2015 song Oh Why by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue. In a ruling on Wednesday, Mr Justice Zacaroli concluded that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from Oh Why when writing Shape Of You.

Grammy Award-winning songwriter Ed Sheeran has won a U.K. copyright battle over the 2017 hit “Shape of You.”

Ed Sheeran has found the 'Shape of You' copyright trial to be "deeply traumatising". The 31-year-old pop star has been taken to court by grime artist Sami Chokri who claims that the melody of the smash hit is "strikingly similar" to that of his 2015 song 'Oh Why' and Ed and his team have been badly affected by the accusation and case, according to his lawyer. Ian Mill QC told the High Court: "[The case] has been deeply traumatising [for Ed and his co-writers.

Ed Sheeran and his co-writers in the ‘Shape of You’ copyright trial has said the legal row has been “deeply traumatising” for them.Ian Mill QC described the dispute as “terribly, terribly unfortunate” at a hearing in London yesterday (March 23) and argued that the case “should never have got to trial” [via Metro].The High Court was informed of Mill’s comments as the trial is expected to conclude today (March 22) and Mr Justice Zacaroli’s judgment to follow at a later date.Grime artist Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch, is claiming that Sheeran’s 2017 hit infringes “particular lines and phrases” of his 2015 song ‘Oh Why’.

Ed Sheeran’s song Shape Of You has been ‘deeply traumatising’ for the singer and his co-writers, the High Court has been told.Grime artist and songwriter Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch, claimed that the hit, released in 2017, infringes ‘particular lines and phrases’ of his 2015 song, Oh Why.He and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue have argued that a central ‘Oh I’ hook in Shape of You is ‘strikingly similar’ to the ‘Oh Why’ refrain in their own track.The Thinking Out Loud musician and his co-authors, producer Steven McCutcheon and Snow Patrol’s John McDaid, have denied all allegations of copying, claiming that they do not remember hearing Oh Why before the claims came to light.Their barrister, Ian Mill QC, has now described the High Court dispute as ‘terribly, terribly unfortunate’ at a hearing in London, on Monday, and said that the case is ‘impossible to hold’.‘This case should never have got to trial,’ he told the court in his closing arguments on Monday, via PA.

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.

Ed Sheeran’s court case into the copyright of ‘Shape Of You’ has begun today (March 4).He appeared at the High Court this morning for the start of a three-week legal battle over the copyright of song ‘Shape Of You’.Sheeran is involved in a dispute with two musicians who claim his 2017 hit borrows parts of their song ‘Oh Why’, which was released in March 2015.Sami Chokri (who performs under Sami Switch) and Ross O’Donoghue claim Sheeran’s song is similar to “particular lines and phrases” of their own song.Sheeran and his co-writers, Steven McCutcheon and John McDaid, were barred by music licensing body PRS for Music from collecting an estimated £20m in royalties from the performances or broadcasts of Shape of You after the songwriters of ‘Oh Why’ accused him of “appropriating” their music.They accused him of partaking “consciously or subconsciously in the habit of appropriating the compositional skill and labour of other songwriters”.Chokri claims that he sent the track to Sheeran’s close inner circle in a bid to work with the star, but later heard the chorus on ‘Shape Of You’ – which became the biggest selling single of 2017 in the UK.