Ed Sheeran Sings Nina Simone Track In Court As He Continues To Defend ‘Shape Of You’ In Copyright Case Battle

The ‘Shape Of You’ song-theft court case has now concluded with judge Antony Zacaroli busy considering whether or not Ed Sheeran is indeed a musical magpie and squirrel, who likes lifting elements of other people’s songs when making his music. Or, at least, who lifted a key line from the 2015 track ‘Oh Why’ when he wrote his 2017 hit ‘Shape Of You’.Sami Chokri reckons that Sheeran got a copy of his 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’.

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.

Ed Sheeran has found the 'Shape of You' copyright trial to be "deeply traumatising". The 31-year-old pop star has been taken to court by grime artist Sami Chokri who claims that the melody of the smash hit is "strikingly similar" to that of his 2015 song 'Oh Why' and Ed and his team have been badly affected by the accusation and case, according to his lawyer. Ian Mill QC told the High Court: "[The case] has been deeply traumatising [for Ed and his co-writers.

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’.

Ed Sheeran‘s ‘Shape Of You’ is “coincidentally similar” and bears “distinctive differences” to the song the singer is accused of copying.It’s alleged that Sheeran and two of his co-writers, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, lifted  “particular lines and phrases” for the 2017 ‘÷’ single from a track called ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Switch (real name Sam Chokri).The latter artist and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue claim that Sheeran took the “oh I, oh I, oh I, oh I” hook from the aforementioned song, which was released in 2015.

Ed Sheeran was hit with a “concerted plan” to secure his interest in a songwriter who then accused him of copying one of his songs for ‘Shape Of You’, the High Court was told yesterday (March 15).Sheeran and two of his co-writers, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, have been accused of lifting “particular lines and phrases” for the 2017 ‘÷’ single from a track called ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Switch (real name Sam Chokri).The latter artist and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue have alleged that Sheeran took the “oh I, oh I, oh I, oh I” hook from the aforementioned song, which was released back in 2015.

Ed Sheeran has announced the Australia and New Zealand leg of his ‘+ – = ÷ x Tour’ – find tickets here.The singer-songwriter will embark on the run of dates in February 2023 in support of his most recent studio album, ‘=’, which came out last October. It’ll mark his first trip Down Under since the record-breaking ‘÷’ tour in 2018.Sheeran will kick off the stadium stint in Wellington, NZ on February 2 before making stop-offs in Auckland (February 10), Brisbane (17), Sydney (24), Melbourne (March 2), Adelaide (7) and Perth (12).Tickets go on general sale next Wednesday (March 23), with a pre-sale due to go live on Monday (March 21).

The artist who accuses Ed Sheeran of ripping off his track ‘Oh Why’ when writing ‘Shape Of You’ took to the witness stand yesterday as the big song-theft legal battle in the London high court continues.Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue argue that Sheeran likely got hold of a copy of their song ‘Oh Why’ from friends they have in common, and then consciously or subconsciously lifted elements of that track when writing ‘Shape Of You’. But Sheeran and his co-writers on the 2017 hit deny ever having heard ‘Oh Why’ before their songwriting sessions in late 2016, and argue that the elements shared by the two songs are commonplace in pop music.In a written statement and during his testimony in court yesterday, Chokri talked about how he actively tried to get a copy of his 2015 song to Sheeran.He said he was inspired by Sheeran’s success and recognised that if he could get an endorsement from the star that would be “a significant boost”.

Ed Sheeran’s track ‘Shape Of You’ has told London’s High Court he felt “belittled” by the superstar’s lawyers.Chokri, who performs as Sami Switch, was in court today (March 14) as part of the ongoing copyright court case regarding his song ‘Oh Why’ and Sheeran’s 2017 single.“I feel like I’ve been robbed by someone I respect, or respected,” he told the court, according to the BBC.“This is years of a cloud over my head,” Chokri went on to say. “All I heard and read was emails belittling me and my questions.”Sami Switch continued: “All I wanted to do was ask for an explanation.

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.

Another co-writer of the Ed Sheeran hit ‘Shape Of You’ took to the witness stand in the high court in London yesterday as the song-theft case against Sheeran and his musical collaborators continues. Producer Steve Mac – real name Steven McCutcheon – said the writing of ‘Shape Of You’ was very rapid and very collaborative.Sheeran and his songwriting collaborators – including McCutcheon – are accused of ripping off the earlier track ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue when they wrote their 2017 hit.

World renowned singer Ed Sheeran has been relying on the support of his wife Cherry Seaborn amid his "disturbing and stressful" court case, which has seen him accused of copying music from other artists, a source has revealed. Ross O' Donoghue and Sami Chokri (who goes by the grime artist name Sami Switch) have alleged that Ed's 2017 'Shape of You' from his bestselling album ÷ ("Divide") used snippets from their own song 'Oh Why', and filed an official legal complaint back in 2018.

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‘s co-writer Johnny McDaid has described the idea of plagiarism as “abhorrent” during the ongoing copyright court case regarding ‘Shape Of You’.Sheeran, McDaid and co-writer Steve Mac have been accused of lifting “particular lines and phrases” for the 2017 ‘÷’ single from a track called ‘Oh Why’ by Sami Switch.The latter artist and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue have alleged that Sheeran took the “oh I, oh I, oh I, oh I” hook from the aforementioned song, which was released back in 2015. Sheeran has denied the claim and rejected the suggestion that he heard ‘Oh Why’ before he wrote ‘Shape Of You’ in October 2016.As BBC News reports, Snow Patrol‘s McDaid claimed in written evidence that he could not recall ever hearing ‘Oh Why’ “in any way” and said he was unaware of Sami Switch before the current legal case began.“I have been a professional songwriter for many years and have achieved substantial success,” he wrote.“I do not need or want to, nor would I ever, plagiarise other people’s work.

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.