Ed Sheeran denies 'borrowing' music in 'Shape of You' copyright trial

Ed Sheeran, who is currently facing copyright allegations for his superhit song 'Shape of you', has denied borrowing ideas from other artists.

On Monday, Sheeran appeared in the court witness box at the High Court in London as his plagiarism case continues.

For the unversed, the singer is involved in a legal battle with two songwriters Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, who claim his 2017 hit is inspired and has musical similarities to one they wrote called 'Oh Why'.

Two songwriters allege that the sing infringes “particular lines and phrases” of their composition. They argue that the Sheeran's tune 'Oh I' hook in Shape Of You is “strikingly similar” to an 'Oh Why'.

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Questioned by their lawyer Andrew Sutcliffe at the High Court in London, Sheeran, 31, said he had not been aware of Switch at the time he is accused of ripping off parts of "Oh Why" and had never heard the song before the court case.

"I have already built a long and very successful career writing original songs for both myself and a wide range of other leading artists," Sheeran said in his witness statement. "I would not have been able to do that if I was in the habit of plagiarising other writers."

The lawyer said Sheeran shouted out Switch`s name at Reading Festival in 2011 after being asked to by his best friend Jamal Edwards, the late founder of SBTV.

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"This isn`t stuff that`s true," Sheeran told the High Court in London on the second day of the trial which began on Friday.

Sutcliffe, who at Friday`s opening called Sheeran "a magpie", questioned the chart-topper intensively over his songwriting style and whether it was spontaneous or the result of development over time, with the influence of other artists.

Sutcliffe said it was "simply not true" that Sheeran made songs up as he went along, adding there was overwhelming evidence at the time of writing "Shape of You" that Sheeran was collecting ideas before writing songs.

"I don`t agree with that," Sheeran, who gave his answers clearly and confidently, said.

Sheeran was also asked about his decision to settle a claim over his 2015 song "Photograph" which two musicians said had the same composition as their song “Amazing”.

Sheeran agreed to hand over 35% of the publishing revenues, recognised the musicians as co-writers, and paid more than $5 million to them. Asked why he had done this rather than go to trial over what he described as a "nuisance", Sheeran said: "I took the advice of my lawyers."

The legal battle is expected to last three weeks. In 2018 Sheeran and the song's other credited writers launched legal action against Chokri and McDaid, prompting the pair to launch their own claim for "copyright infringements, damages and an account of the profit in relation to the alleged infringement".

Sheeran's lawyers have told the High Court that he and his co-writers have no memory of having heard the song "Oh Why" at the time.
For the unversed, Ed Sheeran’s royalties for his song ‘Shape of You’ has been suspended after a new copyright allegation

(With inputs from the agencies)