Ed Sheeran today said he paid five million dollars to two songwriters after they accused him of violating their copyright to his hit song Photograph because he “trusted his lawyers” – as he denied he was a “magpie” who copied Shape Of You from an obscure grime artist.
The 31-year-old pop star has dismissed claims by songwriting duo Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue that he copied parts of one of their tracks for his 2017 hit.
Their lawyer, Andrew Sutcliffe QC, suggested that Sheeran regularly borrows ideas from other artists and asked him today about his previous settlement in the United States over the photo, which was released in 2015.
Mr Sutcliffe QC asked under cross-examination whether Mr Sheeran was “fully involved in the negotiation and drafting of the agreement”.
The singer responded, “My lawyers went through this and I trusted their advice.”
Ed Sheeran was wearing a dark suit, tie and mask when he entered the Rolls Building near St. Paul’s Cathedral this morning.
The court heard that the agreement provided for 35% of the gross publishing income to be paid to songwriters Thomas Leonard and Martin Harrington.
Asked if he agreed it was a large amount, Mr Sheeran replied, “I followed the advice of my lawyers.”
Mr Sutcliffe later said, “I suggest you settle this because you thought you were going to lose.”
“I followed the advice of my lawyers,” Sheeran repeated.
Mr Sutcliffe previously told the court that Mr Sheeran “borrows ideas and puts them into his songs, sometimes he admits it and sometimes he doesn’t”, adding that his clients would be treated differently if they were famous. .
At the start of his testimony today, Mr Sheeran’s lawyer, Ian Mill QC, asked, “Do you agree that you are or have behaved in this manner?”, to which the star replied, “No.”
The claims relate to his hit song Shape Of You.
He continued, “The examples he used are obviously famous artists, two of them are people I wrote songs with.”
Mr. Sheeran, who appeared on the witness stand in a dark suit with a dark tie, also gave several examples of him clearing aspects of songs from unknown artists, including samples of part of a song from the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer from “Unknown Composer”.
“All of these examples are not well-known artists that we have cleared songs with, and that’s what I have to say about it,” he said.
Sheeran later denied knowing about Chokri, the grime artist who goes by the pseudonym Sami Switch, early in his career.
Under cross-examination of Mr. Sutcliffe, Mr. Sheeran was told that he must have known about Mr. Chokri because they appeared on the SBTV YouTube channel around the same time, they had mutual friends, Mr. Chokri tweeted him, and Mr. Sheeran allegedly shouted his name at the performance.
“That’s all you say, it’s not true,” Sheeran said.
Mr. Sutcliffe asked him, “Are you saying that you definitely didn’t know about him, and didn’t you forget that you knew about him?”
Sami Chokri arrives at the Rolls Building in central London on Friday.
“Similarities” between Sheeran’s “Share Of You” and the duo’s “Oh Why”
Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue claim that 2017 hit Shape Of You breaks “certain lines and phrases” of their own track called Oh Why.
They claim that the melody of Sheeran’s famous hook, which reads “o-i-o-i-o-i-o-i”, was copied from their own track. Their song Oh Why has a hook with the words “oh why, oh why, oh why”.
On Friday afternoon, the choruses to both songs were played in the courtroom. Sheeran did not react in any way when part of “Oh Why” was played, or when part of his song was later played over the court’s speakers. Short excerpts from early versions of Shape Of You were also shown in court, as well as an excerpt from Sheeran’s 2017 Glastonbury performance.
Andrew Sutcliffe QC of Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue stated that the two hooks are “nearly identical”.
He added: “They sound almost the same, they are such that the average, reasonable, experienced listener might think that perhaps one came from the other. This, of course, does not in itself prove that copying took place, but it is an important starting point.
He had previously told the court that it was “very unlikely” that he was asked to shout out Sami Switch’s name in a speech, explaining that he does not “shout out on stage” as he would be “bad” if he forgot.
Mr Sheeran said he receives “hundreds of thousands of tweets” but “hasn’t looked at them.”
He was also asked about videos uploaded by the late SBTV founder Jamal Edwards and tweets Mr. Edwards posted referring to Sami Switch.
Mr. Sheeran told the court that Mr. Edwards “has defended a lot and a lot of artists” and that “it’s not like I watch every video he uploads.”
He also said, “I followed him on Twitter, that doesn’t mean I read everything he wrote.”
Mr. Chokri and Mr. O’Donoghue allege that Shape Of You violates “certain lines and phrases” of their 2015 song.
They claim that the central hook of “Oh I” in “Shape Of You” is “strikingly similar” to the “Oh Why” refrain in their own composition.
But Sheeran’s lawyers told the High Court that the singer and his co-writers, Stephen McCutchen and John McDaid, do not remember hearing “Oh Why” prior to the trial and deny the allegations of copying.
Mr. Sheeran and his co-authors began legal proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to declare that they had not infringed the copyrights of Mr. Chokri and Mr. O’Donoghue.
In July 2018, Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue filed their own lawsuit for “copyright infringement, damages and income statement for alleged infringement”.
Chokri and vocal partner Ross O’Donoghue (right, also seen arriving at Supreme Court on Friday) claim that Sheeran copied aspects of their work.