Music
Ed Sheeran Issues A Public Statement Following Court Ruling
Ed Sheeran has issued a public statement after a High Court judge ruled that his song, Shape of You, did not copy another artist’s work.
Sheeran and his co-writers – Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid and producer Steve Mac – were accused of plagiarising the song Oh Why by grime artist Sami Chokri.
After the judge ruled in his favour earlier today, Sheeran issued a video statement calling the case, and others like it, “damaging to the songwriting industry”.
“I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court.” He added, “Even if there’s no base for the claim.”
“There’s only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music. Coincidences are bound to happen if 60,000 songs are being released every day on Spotify. That’s 22 million songs a year and there’s only 12 notes that are available.”
“I just want to say I’m not an entity, I’m not a corporation. I’m a human being, I’m a father, I’m a husband, I’m a son.” He continued, “Lawsuits are not a pleasant experience and I hope with this ruling, it means in the future baseless claims like this can be avoided. This really does have to end.”
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In a joint statement (via Sky), Sheeran, McDaid and Mac also said that the case had impacted the mental health and everyday lives of themselves and their families. They went on to say that while they supported “due process for legitimate and warranted copyright protection” they added this “is not the same as having a culture where unwarranted claims are easily brought”.
“It is so painful to hear someone publicly and aggressively, challenge your integrity. It is so painful to have to defend yourself against accusations that you have done something that you haven’t done and would never do.”
They added, “We will continue to stand up against baseless claims to protect our rights and the integrity of our musical creativity, so that we can continue to make music, always.”
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