Embroiled in two previous plagiarism lawsuits, British superstar Ed Sheeran was recently taken to court for his new case for his 2017 hit song "Shape of You."
The singer-songwriter, 31, is engaged in a legal battle with a copyright claim against his Grammy-winning hit "Shape Of You," which two songwriters claim rips off parts of their track.
Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue claim that their song "Oh Why," which was released in 2015, has been infringed by Sheeran's 2017 song.
Sheeran, accompanied by his co-writers Steven McCutcheon and John McDaid, started the legal proceedings in May 2018.
Chokri and O'Donoghue issued their own claim for copyright infringement two months later.
The trial
In court, the three are asking the High Court to declare that they had not infringed Chokri and O'Donoughe's music. Beginning last Friday, the trial will run for at least three weeks as reported.
As per Metro UK, Sheeran attended last Friday's hearing and yesterday, refuting claims that he "borrowed" the song from the allegedly rightful songwriters.
She arrived at the Rolls Building in central London, where she was dressed in a black suit and tie with a face mask.
As Mr. Chokri and Mr. O'Donoghue's lawyer Andrew Sutcliffe QC said on Friday, Sheeran 'borrows ideas from other artists and incorporates them into his songs," claiming the fact that he has done so, but sometimes not.
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Hearing Unfair?
Sutcliffe calls it unfair as he mentioned that the recognition was "contingent" on the artists' fame, noting that his "were not Coldplay, Rihanna, or Jay-Z," but if it were, he knew that it would be treated differently.
Sheeran, in evidence, said no when asked if he accepts the behavior that the other camp is arguing.
'The examples he has been using are obviously famous artists, two of them are people I've made songs with,' Sheeran explained.
The "Thinking Out Loud" hitmaker also pushed that if the opposing camp had done the research, he would know that he had previously cleared "lots" of songs with unknown artists.
Before the legal dispute, the 31-year old singer's attorneys stated in the High Court that he and his co-writers had "no knowledge" of hearing the song "Oh Why" before the legal battle and "vehemently denied" the charges of plagiarism.
A final decision has yet to be made in the coming weeks as it is too early to draw conclusions or expectations.
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