Ed Sheeran Wins ‘Shape of You’ Copyright Trial
Ed Sheeran and his co-songwriters on ‘Shape Of You,’ the 2017 Grammy-winning pop track, have been awarded over €1 million in legal costs after winning their UK High Court copyright trial. The trial, which began this March, accused Sheeran, along with co-writers John McDaid of Snow Patrol and producer Steven McCutcheon, of copying the lyrics from a 2015 song by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue.
Ultimately, it was determined that Sheeran “Neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a line in the song, stated Justice Zacaroli of the trial. The Justice added that Chokri and O’Donoghue “not only maintained their attack on Mr Sheeran but broadened it by asserting that he was a ‘magpie’ who habitually misappropriated song ideas from other writers.”
