Ed Sheeran Denies 'Borrowing' Ideas from Unknown Songwriters in 'Shape Of You' Copyright Trial

justjared.com:

Ed Sheeran arrives at a hearing at London’s High Court on Monday (March 7) in London, England. During the trial, the 31-year-old performer denied that he had stolen ideas from songwriters Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue on his 2017 smash-hit “Shape of You.” Click inside to find out more about the hearing… The songwriting duo claim that their 2015 track “Oh Why,” which was released under the name Sami Switch, sounds “strikingly similar” to Ed‘s “Oh I” hook in “Shape of You.” Ed responded by saying that he had cleared parts of the song with “lots” of unknown artists, per the BBC.

The outlet writes that Sam and Ross‘ lawyers claim that Ed “borrows ideas and throws them into his songs, sometimes he will acknowledge it but sometimes he won’t.” The “Bad Habits” singer denied the claim that he takes people’s work without acknowledgement and noted that he has often shared credit with lesser-known artist, using his songs “Shivers” and “Visiting Hours” as examples. “All those examples are not famous artists that we’ve cleared songs with and that’s what I have to say on that,” he told the court. Ed worked on “Shape of You” with co-writers Steven McCutcheon (aka Steve Mac) and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid, both of whom were at the meeting.

He also pointed out that after the song’s release he added the team behind TLC‘s “No Scrubs” to the writing credits.

The Daily Mail writes that he also told the court he approaches songwriting without a “premeditated thought process.” “If it sounds good, I keep it,” he said in written evidence. “I frequently write and record a number of songs in a day.