Another Ed Sheeran collaborator testifies in Shape Of You song-theft case

David Bowie has been unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London as part of the attraction’s ‘Music Festival’ experience.Created in partnership with Bowie’s estate, the figure depicts the late musician during his iconic Ziggy Stardust era. It was made using information from the star’s 1983 sitting, and marks the second Bowie waxwork to feature at the museum.The addition of Ziggy completes Madame Tussauds London’s revamped ‘Music Festival’ zone, which also features models of Jimi Hendrix, Stormzy, Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, Amy Winehouse and Little Mix.Tim Waters, General Manager at Madame Tussauds London, said: “David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust transcends generations and music genres, making him the ultimate headliner to launch our new Music Festival zone.There’s a Starman waiting in…our new music zone! @DavidBowieReal lands tomorrow ⭐️☄️ pic.twitter.com/dDMIU6OHC9— Madame Tussauds London (@MadameTussauds) March 31, 2022“We were honoured to work with his estate in what would have been his 75th year and play our small part in keeping his inimitable legacy alive for generations to come.”As for the newly-updated festival area, Waters continued: “With our new Music Festival experience, we’ve captured the magic of live music, with legends you literally could not see perform together anywhere else, in a way that only Madame Tussauds London could.“There’s also the added bonus of no muddy fields or main-stage clashes to contend with.”Madame Tussauds London’s Music Festival experience opens tomorrow (April 1) – you can find ticket information here.

Camila Cabello was photographed with her mom in London. The two looked relaxed and stylish as they enjoyed their time together.Camila Cabello says speaking and singing Spanish connects her to her childhoodCamila Cabello and Ed Sheeran to perform at Concert For Ukraine: ‘We all have a responsibility’Cabello and her mom, Sinuhe Estrabao, were spotted grabbing some lunch in Notting Hill. While Cabello wore a white outfit made up of a set of matching set of pants and sweater, her mother wore black with a brown coat on top.

Jamal Edwards have set up The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust in his memory.The hugely influential SB.TV founder passed away in London last month at the age of 31. Ed Sheeran, Chelsea FC and Dave were among those to pay tribute to Edwards.The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust has now been launched by his family to “honour [Edwards’] memory and continue his legacy”.Edwards’ mother Brenda shared a link to a GoFundMe page earlier this morning (March 30), which explains more about the aims of the trust.“Jamal no longer being here has left a huge impact on the lives of his family, friends and all those he supported and lifted in his unique and humble way,” the page’s accompanying statement reads.

Camila Cabello has a mini fashion show on the streets of London, England in between radio promo ahead of the weekend.

An 11-day trial over the copyright of Ed Sheeran's hit song “Shape of You" concluded in London on Tuesday, with the judge saying he would take some time to consider his ruling.The British pop star and his co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, deny accusations that the 2017 song copies part of a 2015 song called “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch.Lawyer Andrew Sutcliffe, representing the “Oh Why” co-writers, argued there was an “indisputable similarity between the works” and suggested the chances of two songs that “correlate” appearing within months of each other was “minutely small."The lawyer claimed that Sheeran had “Oh Why” “consciously or unconsciously in his head" when “Shape of You” was written in 2016. He also alleged that Sheeran, who attended the hearing throughout, was dishonest and evasive in giving evidence to the trial.Sheeran and his co-writers say they have disclosed material to the trial and do not remember hearing “Oh Why” before the court case.Justice Antony Zacaroli said Tuesday he would deliver his judgment “as soon as I can.”“Shape of You” was the biggest selling song in the U.K.

Summing up has begun in the big old ‘Shape Of You’ song-theft case, with Ed Sheeran’s lawyer declaring that the legal dispute has been “deeply traumatising” for his client, and should never have got as far as the High Court.Sami Chokri reckons that Sheeran got a copy of his 2015 track ‘Oh Why’ through mutual friends or industry connections and then, when the star and his songwriting pals got together in late 2016 to write ‘Shape Of You’, he either consciously or subconsciously utilised a key element of the earlier song within his hit.But Sheeran and his collaborators deny having ever heard ‘Oh Why’ before writing ‘Shape Of You’.

Ed Sheeran and his co-writers in the ‘Shape of You’ copyright trial has said the legal row has been “deeply traumatising” for them.Ian Mill QC described the dispute as “terribly, terribly unfortunate” at a hearing in London yesterday (March 23) and argued that the case “should never have got to trial” [via Metro].The High Court was informed of Mill’s comments as the trial is expected to conclude today (March 22) and Mr Justice Zacaroli’s judgment to follow at a later date.Grime artist Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch, is claiming that Sheeran’s 2017 hit infringes “particular lines and phrases” of his 2015 song ‘Oh Why’.

The ongoing song theft dispute in London’s high court over Ed Sheeran’s hit ‘Shape Of You’ got to the musicologist stage this week. Both sides in the dispute had expert musicologists analyse the similarities between Sheeran’s song and Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue’s earlier track ‘Oh Why’.

DEALSPeaceville Records has signed Sigh to release their twelfth studio album later this year. “I’ve been following Peaceville’s history from the very beginning”, says Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima.

Ed Sheeran gave another emotional tribute to late friend and cricket legend Shane Warne as he appeared on Australian TV show The Project on Wednesday 16 March. Shane tragically died on 4 March aged 52 after suffering a fatal a heart attack while on a trip in Koh Samui, Thailand, fans were devastated to learn along with his family and friends.

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Ed Sheeran’s trip to the High Court in London in a bid to defeat a song-theft lawsuit filed against him and his musical collaborators in relation to his 2017 track ‘Shape Of You’, and the return of LimeWire – not as a piece of peer-to-peer file-sharing software, but as a music NFT marketplace.

Katy Perry has won a copyright infringement case against a rapper who claimed she stole his music to make her hit single ‘Dark Horse’.On Thursday (March 10) a federal appeals court refused to reinstate the original $2.8million verdict against Perry.In 2014, when Marcus Gray, who performs as Flame, alleged that the pop singer had copied his track ‘Joyful Noise’, jurors sided with him. However, in 2020 a judge overturned the original verdict.At the time, the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ copyright ruling was used as a precedent for overruling the initial verdict, noting that the notes Perry repeated during the song, were too simple to justify copyright protection.

The Ninth Circuit appeals court in the US yesterday sided with Katy Perry in the big old ‘Dark Horse’ song theft case. The musical elements Perry’s hit has in common with earlier track ‘Joyful Noise’ were “commonplace” and therefore not protected by copyright in isolation, judges concluded.

Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid took to the stand in London’s high court yesterday in the ongoing song-theft legal battle over Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’, which he co-wrote. He mainly echoed comments already made by his musical collaborator earlier in the week, while also talking about the “culture” of dubious copyright claims in the US courts that followed the 2015 ‘Blurred Lines’ ruling, and insisting that the thought of plagiarising another artist’s work was “abhorrent”.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators – including McDaid – are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

Ed Sheeran sang Nina Simone‘s ‘Feeling Good’ and Blackstreet‘s ‘No Diggity’ in London’s High Court yesterday (March 8) as his ongoing plagiarism court case regarding his song ‘Shape Of You’ continues.Sheeran has denied lifting the “oh I, oh I, oh I” hook in his 2017 hit single from Sami Chokri’s (AKA Sami Switch) 2015 track ‘Oh Why’. The singer has also rejected the suggestion that he heard ‘Oh Why’ before he wrote ‘Shape Of You’ in October 2016.Royalties from ‘Shape Of You’, estimated to be worth £20million, have been frozen since Chokri and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue issued a claim for “copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement” in July 2018.As BBC News reports, Sheeran sang snippets of Simone’s 1965 rendition of ‘Feeling Good’ and Blackstreet’s 1996 hit ‘No Diggity’ in court yesterday in an effort to illustrate how the “oh I” melody is commonplace in pop music.

Ed Sheeran further discussed his creative process in the high court in London yesterday as the song-theft legal battle over his 2017 hit ‘Shape Of You’ continued. He also revealed how his team usually deal with songs he’s written that contain elements in common with old songs – a process that may or may not have been applied to the unreleased Sheeran track that got an unintended airing as yesterday’s court proceedings went through the motions.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

Ed Sheeran said in the high court yesterday that – while he is influenced by other songs when writing his own music – he is not a “magpie” that routinely lifts elements of those existing songs without permission. And where one of his songs does arguably share a musical element with an existing work, he goes out of his way to clear and credit the original.Meanwhile, he settled an earlier song-theft lawsuit over his song ‘Photograph’ out of court not because he thought he was liable for copyright infringement, but because he was advised it was the easiest way to move beyond that particular dispute.All of this was said as the musician gave testimony as part of the song-theft legal battle in the UK courts over his song ‘Shape Of You’.

Ed Sheeran arrives at a hearing at London’s High Court on Monday (March 7) in London, England.

Paul Weller has been announced as special guests for Madness‘ show at the Royal Albert Hall this month.The longstanding ska group had previously been announced to perform at the famous venue, one of a series of high-profile shows in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust this month.Now, Weller has been announced for an exclusive guest appearance which takes place on March 24. He will be joined by his band for a unique acoustic set.Madness’ gig is one of a number of shows taking place at the Albert Hall between March 21 and 27, with Don Broco, Yungblud, Liam Gallagher, The Who and Ed Sheeran also appearing.