In a civil copyright claim court case, Ed Sheeran is accused of ripping off Sam Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue’s 2015 song Oh Why – but what elements of their song is Ed accused of taking off? Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
The singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and the other two co-writers have been accused by two songwriters of copying parts of his 2017 hit Shape Of You.
In a civil copyright claim court case, Ed Sheeran is accused of ripping off Sam Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue’s 2015 song Oh Why – but what elements of their song is Ed accused of taking off? Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
Ed Sheeran is now embroiled in a civil copyright claim court battle with two songwriters who say he plagiarized their work – the three are scheduled to appear in court today.
The 31-year-old singer/songwriter is embroiled in a legal battle with Sam Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, who claim that sections of Ed’s 2017 hit Shape Of You are plagiarized from their song Oh Why.
Shape Of You, according to Mr. Chokri and Mr. O’Donoghue, infringes on “certain lines and phrases” of their composition.
The chorus of Chokri contains the following lyrics:
Oh why, oh why, oh why oh
Why do I put myself through this
Oh why, oh why, oh why oh
Why do I put myself through this
Oh why, oh why, oh why oh I hope the sufferings worth it
And we suffer for a purpose
While Sheeran’s chorus to Shape of You reads:
We push and pull like a magnet do
Although my heart is falling too
I’m in love with your body
And last night you were in my room
And now my bedsheets smell like you
Every day discovering something brand new
I’m in love with your body
Oh-I-oh-I-oh-I-oh-I
I’m in love with your body
Oh-I-oh-I-oh-I-oh-I
I’m in love with your body
Oh-I-oh-I-oh-I-oh-I
I’m in love with your body
Every day discovering something brand new
I’m in love with the shape of you
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In May 2018, Sheeran and his song’s co-authors filed a lawsuit in the High Court, requesting that the court rule that they had not infringed on Mr. Chokri and Mr. O’Donoghue’s copyright.
Mr. Chokri and Mr. O’Donoghue filed their own claim for “copyright infringement, damages, and an account of earnings in relation to the claimed infringement” in July 2018, two months after Sheeran filed legal action.
Shape Of You was a worldwide success, becoming the best-selling single in the United Kingdom in 2017 and the most streamed song in Spotify history. Chokri and O’Donoghue’s track was released in 2015, two years before.
Music licensing authority PRS for Music has already prohibited Sheeran and co-writers Steven McCutcheon and John McDaid from earning an estimated £20 million in royalties for the song.
Judge Francesca Kaye stated in a November 2020 judgment that the parties involved in the case “estimated that they would expend fees in the region of £3 million between them on this dispute.”
Sheeran has already given the creators of TLC’s No Scrubs a credit on Shape of You after the song was compared to it.
There was no explanation given for the new composition credits at the time, and it had previously been noted that the two songs sounded identical.
Sheeran refuted earlier today (March 7) that he “borrows” ideas from unknown vocalists.
The singer responded:
“Do you accept that you behave or have behaved in that way?” to which the singer said “no”.
Sheeran then added:
“The examples he has been using are obviously famous artists, two of them are people I’ve made songs with.”
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