Ed Sheeran and partners awarded £900,000 in legal costs following copyright case win
Ed Sheeran and two of his songwriting partners, Steven McCutcheon and Snow Patrol‘s John McDaid, have been awarded £900,000 in legal costs following a High Court copyright win.The three artists – who worked together on Sheeran’s 2017 single ‘Shape Of You’ – had been accused of lifting from a song, ‘Oh Why’, by musicians Sami Chokri (aka Sami Switch) and Ross O’Donoghue. The pair claimed Sheeran’s song featured “particular lines and phrases” similar to their own song, calling him “a magpie”.Sheeran, McCutcheon and McDaid denied accusations of plagiarism, with the former saying in his testimony on March 7: “I have always tried to be completely fair in crediting anyone who makes any contribution to any song I write.” McDaid, in his testimony, called the idea of plagiarism “abhorrent”.On April 6, the justice in the case ruled in favour of Sheeran, saying he “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from ‘Oh Why’ when writing ‘Shape Of You’.Yesterday (June 21), Justice Zacaroli awarded Sheeran and his co-writers £916,200.