Sami Chokri: Last News

Ed Sheeran has won his High Court copyright battle over his hit song Shape of You.The singer, who recently spoke about being supported by his wife Cherry Seaborn throughout the case, was accused of being a "magpie" who "borrows" ideas from other artists, and he denied copying other songwriters Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue and their song Oh Why, which was released in 2015. Chokri and O'Donoghue had claimed the Shape of You chorus, which 31 year old Sheeran sings out “oh I oh I oh I”, was actually stolen from their own chorus “oh why oh why oh why”. Mr Justice Zacaroli concluded Mr Sheeran "neither deliberately nor subconsciously" copied the phrase in a ruling today (April 6).

Ed Sheeran has won his copyright case at the High Court over claims that he plagiarised hit song ‘Shape Of You’ from two other writers.Sheeran along with two of his co-writers – Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid and producer Steve McCutcheon – had been accused of plagiarising part of a track called ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri, who performs under the alias Sami Switch.Chokri claimed that Sheeran’s 2017 hit infringed “particular lines and phrases” of his 2015 song. He and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue further alleged that the main “Oh I” hook in ‘Shape Of You’ is “strikingly similar” to the “Oh Why” refrain in their own song.Chokri also claimed that he and Sheeran had “overlapping circles” of artists, writers and producers in common, stating that there had been a “concerted plan” to bring ‘Oh Why’ to Sheeran’s attention, were denied by Sheeran’s party.Sheeran and his co-authors, denied all allegations of copying, claiming that they don’t remember hearing ‘Oh Why’ before the claims were lodged.Now, after an 11 day trial, Justice Zacaroli ruled this morning (April 6) that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from ‘Oh Why’ when writing ‘Shape of You.’Zacaroli did acknowledge there were “similarities between the one-bar phrase” in ‘Shape Of You’ and ‘Oh Why’, but added that “such similarities are only a starting point for a possible infringement” of copyright.He went on to say there were “differences between the relevant parts” of the songs, which “provide compelling evidence that the ‘Oh I’ phrase” in ‘Shape Of You’ “originated from sources other than ‘Oh Why'”.He said there was only a “speculative foundation” that Sheeran had head Chokri’s song before writing ‘Shape of You’.

Ed Sheeran has won a copyright lawsuit over his hit single “Shape of You.”A U.K. High Court ruled on Wednesday that Sheeran had not plagiarised the 2015 song “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri.The verdict is the culmination of a four-year legal battle between Sheeran and songwriters Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, which included a 11-day trial in London in March.

The ‘Shape Of You’ song-theft court case has now concluded with judge Antony Zacaroli busy considering whether or not Ed Sheeran is indeed a musical magpie and squirrel, who likes lifting elements of other people’s songs when making his music. Or, at least, who lifted a key line from the 2015 track ‘Oh Why’ when he wrote his 2017 hit ‘Shape Of You’.Sami Chokri reckons that Sheeran got a copy of his track ‘Oh Why’ through mutual friends or industry connections and then, when the star and his songwriting pals got together in late 2016 to write ‘Shape Of You’, he either consciously or subconsciously utilised a key element of the earlier song within his hit.But Sheeran and his collaborators deny having ever heard ‘Oh Why’ before writing ‘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.

Summing up has begun in the big old ‘Shape Of You’ song-theft case, with Ed Sheeran’s lawyer declaring that the legal dispute has been “deeply traumatising” for his client, and should never have got as far as the High Court.Sami Chokri reckons that Sheeran got a copy of his 2015 track ‘Oh Why’ through mutual friends or industry connections and then, when the star and his songwriting pals got together in late 2016 to write ‘Shape Of You’, he either consciously or subconsciously utilised a key element of the earlier song within his hit.But Sheeran and his collaborators deny having ever heard ‘Oh Why’ before writing ‘Shape Of You’.

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 revealed he was told about his longtime friend Shane Warne’s death by paparazzi who flagged him down in the street. The Bad Habits singer, 31, had been leaving court where he is fighting to prove he did not copy the song Oh Why by Sami Chokri and his co-author Ross O’Donoghue, when he was questioned about Warne’s death by a paparazzo. Sheeran told Hit Network’s Carrie & Tommy that that was the moment he found out the cricket legend had died suddenly at the age of 52.He explained: ‘It’s been a weird month, I lost my best friend Jamal [Edwards] at the end of February and then I know I can’t talk about it but I started this thing that’s been heavily publicised that I’m going in [to court for] every day. ‘I came out of court on the first day to a paparazzi saying, “Hey, what do you think of your friend Shane dying?”‘It’s just a very, very weird time. I feel I haven’t quite been able to process or grieve anything… It’s really, really sad.’Sheeran added: ‘I love Shane and I have an amazing last memory of me and him at a Coldplay gig together and I’m grateful for all the memories I do have and I’m sad about all the memories I won’t make any more.’Explaining how he met Warne, Sheeran previously told The Project: ‘We met in 2014, when I was doing the Logies.

Ed Sheeran has announced the Australia and New Zealand leg of his ‘+ – = ÷ x Tour’ – find tickets here.The singer-songwriter will embark on the run of dates in February 2023 in support of his most recent studio album, ‘=’, which came out last October. It’ll mark his first trip Down Under since the record-breaking ‘÷’ tour in 2018.Sheeran will kick off the stadium stint in Wellington, NZ on February 2 before making stop-offs in Auckland (February 10), Brisbane (17), Sydney (24), Melbourne (March 2), Adelaide (7) and Perth (12).Tickets go on general sale next Wednesday (March 23), with a pre-sale due to go live on Monday (March 21).

The artist who accuses Ed Sheeran of ripping off his track ‘Oh Why’ when writing ‘Shape Of You’ took to the witness stand yesterday as the big song-theft legal battle in the London high court continues.Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue argue that Sheeran likely got hold of a copy of their song ‘Oh Why’ from friends they have in common, and then consciously or subconsciously lifted elements of that track when writing ‘Shape Of You’. But Sheeran and his co-writers on the 2017 hit deny ever having heard ‘Oh Why’ before their songwriting sessions in late 2016, and argue that the elements shared by the two songs are commonplace in pop music.In a written statement and during his testimony in court yesterday, Chokri talked about how he actively tried to get a copy of his 2015 song to Sheeran.He said he was inspired by Sheeran’s success and recognised that if he could get an endorsement from the star that would be “a significant boost”.

Katy Perry has won a copyright infringement case against a rapper who claimed she stole his music to make her hit single ‘Dark Horse’.On Thursday (March 10) a federal appeals court refused to reinstate the original $2.8million verdict against Perry.In 2014, when Marcus Gray, who performs as Flame, alleged that the pop singer had copied his track ‘Joyful Noise’, jurors sided with him. However, in 2020 a judge overturned the original verdict.At the time, the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ copyright ruling was used as a precedent for overruling the initial verdict, noting that the notes Perry repeated during the song, were too simple to justify copyright protection.

Another co-writer of the Ed Sheeran hit ‘Shape Of You’ took to the witness stand in the high court in London yesterday as the song-theft case against Sheeran and his musical collaborators continues. Producer Steve Mac – real name Steven McCutcheon – said the writing of ‘Shape Of You’ was very rapid and very collaborative.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators – including McCutcheon – are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

World renowned singer Ed Sheeran has been relying on the support of his wife Cherry Seaborn amid his "disturbing and stressful" court case, which has seen him accused of copying music from other artists, a source has revealed. Ross O' Donoghue and Sami Chokri (who goes by the grime artist name Sami Switch) have alleged that Ed's 2017 'Shape of You' from his bestselling album ÷ ("Divide") used snippets from their own song 'Oh Why', and filed an official legal complaint back in 2018.

Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid took to the stand in London’s high court yesterday in the ongoing song-theft legal battle over Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’, which he co-wrote. He mainly echoed comments already made by his musical collaborator earlier in the week, while also talking about the “culture” of dubious copyright claims in the US courts that followed the 2015 ‘Blurred Lines’ ruling, and insisting that the thought of plagiarising another artist’s work was “abhorrent”.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators – including McDaid – are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

Ed Sheeran sang Nina Simone‘s ‘Feeling Good’ and Blackstreet‘s ‘No Diggity’ in London’s High Court yesterday (March 8) as his ongoing plagiarism court case regarding his song ‘Shape Of You’ continues.Sheeran has denied lifting the “oh I, oh I, oh I” hook in his 2017 hit single from Sami Chokri’s (AKA Sami Switch) 2015 track ‘Oh Why’. The singer has also rejected the suggestion that he heard ‘Oh Why’ before he wrote ‘Shape Of You’ in October 2016.Royalties from ‘Shape Of You’, estimated to be worth £20million, have been frozen since Chokri and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue issued a claim for “copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement” in July 2018.As BBC News reports, Sheeran sang snippets of Simone’s 1965 rendition of ‘Feeling Good’ and Blackstreet’s 1996 hit ‘No Diggity’ in court yesterday in an effort to illustrate how the “oh I” melody is commonplace in pop music.

Ed Sheeran further discussed his creative process in the high court in London yesterday as the song-theft legal battle over his 2017 hit ‘Shape Of You’ continued. He also revealed how his team usually deal with songs he’s written that contain elements in common with old songs – a process that may or may not have been applied to the unreleased Sheeran track that got an unintended airing as yesterday’s court proceedings went through the motions.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

Ed Sheeran’s High Court “Shape Of You” copyright case continued in London, U.K., Tuesday.

Ed Sheeran has given testimony in an ongoing court case surrounding his Number One 2017 single, ‘Shape of You’.As reported last week, Sheeran is currently in a legal battle that has been taken to High Court by two songwriters, Sami Chokri (AKA Sami Switch) and Ross O’Donoghue. The pair have claimed ‘Shape of You’ is similar to their 2015 song ‘Oh Why’, pointing to “particular lines and phrases” that draw parallels between the two.At a previous hearing, Sheeran was branded as a “magpie” by Chokri and O’Donoghue’s lawyer, Andrew Sutcliffe QC, with regards to his approach to songwriting.

Ed Sheeran arrives at a hearing at London’s High Court on Monday (March 7) in London, England.

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.