ED SHEERAN: THE SHAPE OF YOU
Sheeran’s victory in Manhattan on Thursday was his second such case in two years, having also won a plagiarism battle for his 2017 hit Shape Of You.
A UK High Court judge has ruled that Sheeran did not copy Sami Chokri’s 2015 song Oh Why.
The grime artist, who performs as Sami Switch, claimed the “Oh I” hook in Shape Of You was “strikingly similar” to an “Oh why” chorus on his track.
Sheeran said after the ruling that such “baseless” allegations were “far too common.”
Sami Chokri (left, in court in 2022) and Ross O’Donoghue (right) claimed Sheeran ripped off their 2015 song Oh Why with his 2017 track Shape of You
Judge Antony Zacaroli ruled that Sheeran had “neither deliberately nor unknowingly copied” Chokri’s song.
He acknowledged “similarities between the one-bar phrase” in Shape of You and Oh Why, but said “such similarities are only a starting point for possible infringement” of copyright.
He added that there were “differences between relevant parts” of the songs, which “provide compelling evidence that the phrase ‘Oh I'” in Sheeran’s song “came from sources other than Oh Why”.
During the case, Sheeran seemed stung by the accusation of stealing another artist’s work without giving him credit.
Chokri and her co-author Ross O’Donoghue were ordered to pay Sheeran $1.1 million in legal fees after the case.
ED SHEERAN: PHOTOGRAPHY
Sheeran has settled out of court after being accused of copying the track ‘Amazing’, recorded by UK X-Factor winner Matt Cardle (pictured)
Sheeran has also faced copyright lawsuit over his hit song Photograph after he was accused of ‘note-for-note copying’ the track ‘Amazing’, recorded by the British X Factor winner , Matt Cardle.
The case was reportedly settled after the songwriters filed a lawsuit in 2016 seeking $20 million.
Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard’s complaint said Sheeran and his songwriting partner “copied and exploited … the work of other active, professional songwriters, on a breathtaking scale, unabashedly taking credit for the work of these songwriters…”
The lawsuit alleged that the chorus of “Photograph” and Cardle’s “Amazing” shared 39 identical notes.
ROBIN THICKE – BLURRED LINES
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have been ordered to pay Marvin Gaye’s family $5 million after being found guilty of copying one of his hits.
The duo were found to have copied Gaye’s 1977 hit Got to Give It Up for their track Blurred Lines.
Gaye’s family originally won the case in 2015, which was upheld by a California court on appeal in 2018.
The family also received 50% of all future royalties earned by Blurred Lines.
But the $5 million payout was just a fraction of the $16.6 million Williams and Thicke reportedly made for the song in the original lawsuit.
Some in the music industry criticized the initial verdict for punishing Thicke’s song for copying the ‘feel’ of Gaye’s classic – rather than directly plagiarizing musical phrases or lyrics.
The Court of Appeal was also divided on this point and one of the three judges opposed the decision.
Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen said the two songs “differed in melody, harmony and rhythm” and wrote that the verdict “deals a devastating blow to future musicians and composers everywhere.”
The verdict sparked a number of similar cases against artists including Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson, Madonna and Miley Cyrus.
ZEPPELIN LED STAIRCASE: TOWARDS THE SKY
Rock legends Led Zeppelin have won a six-year legal battle to prove they didn’t copy a Randy California song for their iconic track ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
The estate of the late California filed a lawsuit in 2014, alleging Zeppelin’s song was taken from the single “Taurus” by 1960s band Spirit, of which California had served as lead guitarist.
In 2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict that the song was not copied.
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant told the BBC in 2021: “There are millions and millions of songs that carry the same chord progression, so it was very unfortunate and it was unpleasant for everyone. the world.”
Led Zeppelin pictured at the 1969 Bath Festival. Left to right John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, John Bonham, Jimmy Page
GEORGE HARRISON: MY GENTLE LORD
Harrison (second from left) with the Beatles in 1967
Former Beatle George Harrison has been found guilty of “unknowingly” plagiarizing John Mack’s 1962 tune “He’s So Fine” for his 1970 hit “My Sweet Lord”.
The 1976 case saw Judge Richard Owen of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan find Harrison guilty of copyright infringement, but “not willfully”.
Owen, a composer himself, said: “Clearly My Sweet Lord is the same song as ‘He’s So Fine.’ is no less the case, even if it is unconsciously accomplished.
Owen said it was apparent from the trial evidence that Harrison was unaware that he was plagiarizing the “He’s So Fine” theme.
But he added: “In seeking musical material to clothe his thought…there came to the surface of his mind a particular combination which appealed to him as being one which he thought would be appealing to a potential listener…[Mr. Harrison’s subconscious mind] knew this combination of sounds would work because it had worked before in a song that his conscious mind couldn’t remember.
