Ed Sheeran is in court in Britain for plagiarism related to his song "Shape of You"

2022-03-04 23:48:55
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British pop star Ed Sheeran appeared before the British court on Friday in a lawsuit filed against him by a writer and composer of songs, accusing him of plagiarism in his hit song "Ship of You".
Sheeran personally attended the first hearings of the High Court in London in the case, which is scheduled to take three weeks to hear.
Sami Shoukry and Ross O'Donohue accuse Sheeran of having partly inspired his 2017 best-selling song "Shape of You" from their song "Oh Way".
The court, headed by Judge Anthony Zaccaroli, heard the two songs on Friday.
Prosecutors attorney Andrew Sutcliffe noted that the "similarity" between some of the passages was "astounding" as they were "almost identical".
He added, “Sheeran is undoubtedly very talented, and he is a genius. But it is also a magpie,” referring to the bird that is sometimes described as “the thief magpie.”
He accused him of "borrowing ideas and throwing them into his songs, sometimes he admits it and sometimes he doesn't," and continued, "It depends on who you are and if he thinks he can do it with impunity."
The lawyer described his clients as "very talented songwriters who deserve the same respect and appreciation as any other artist."
Ed Sheeran and co-authors Stephen McCutchen and John McDaid denied the accusations.
In May 2018, they submitted a review to the Supreme Court to rule that there was no copyright infringement.
Two months later, in July, Shoukry and O'Donohue in turn filed a lawsuit against them.
And the newspaper "The Telegraph" reported that the collective management organization PRS has stopped paying the copyright associated with "Ship of You", estimated at 20 million pounds (about 26 million dollars).
In 2017, Ed Sheeran's work was the best-selling album in the world according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, thanks to his third album "Divide" which includes the song "Shape of You".