The case of potential copyright infringement over Ed Sheeran’s hit song Shape of You has been “deeply traumatising” for the star, a court has been told, as the singer awaits the verdict of the trial.
The 11-day trial ended today, with Mr Justice Zacaroli saying he would “take some time to consider my judgment”.
In something of a legal 180-turn, the court was also told that the song Ed Sheeran is accused of stealing was in fact inspired by a song by… Ed Sheeran.
Sami Switch’s 2014 track Oh Why was described in court as having the same structure as Ed Sheeran’s cover of Wayfaring Stranger.
For those who don’t know, the ongoing trial is currently assessing whether Ed Sheeran’s megahit Shape of You, which is the most successful song in Spotify’s history, lifted any elements of Oh Why – something Ed Sheeran strongly denies.
Specifically, Chokri, who performs as Sami Switch, claims the post-chorus element of Shape of You – which repeats ‘Oh I, Oh I, Oh I’ – was taken from his 2014 song.
(If you haven’t yet heard them side-by-side, here they are below. To skip to the parts in question, click on 1:15 on Shape of You and 0:36 on Oh Why).
But now, Ian Mill QC, who’s representing Ed Sheeran and his co-defendants, has written in his closing submission that Sheeran’s cover of Wayfaring Stranger had a “profound and lasting impact” on Chokri. Mill has said there is “compelling evidence” to suggest this was the case.
Wayfaring Stranger has no known writer but has seen some popular renditions, including from the likes of Johnny Cash and Eva Cassidy. Mill said Sheeran’s cover was in the “mind [at] precisely the time [Chokri was] working on Oh Why”. (Listen to Sheeran’s cover of the track below).
The trial isn’t the only high-profile copyright case. Last week, Katy Perry won her appeal against rapper Marcus Grey, who had claimed Perry’s hit Dark Horse had plagiarised an eight-note riff from his track Joyful Noise. The result meant Perry no longer had to pay $2.8 million (£2.1 million).
Meanwhile, Dua Lipa has seen a double whammy of lawsuits filed against her song Levitating. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer claimed she copied their 1979 song Wiggle and Giggle All Night as well as the 1980 song Don Diablo – the latter of which they acquired the copyright for after filing a similar claim of infringement. Reggae band Artikal Sound System also alleged copyright infringement against Lipa and her collaborators for their 2017 song Live Your Life.
Such cases involve huge sums. An estimated £20 million in royalties for Shape of You have been frozen since 2018, when Mr. Chokri and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue first made the claim of copyright infringement.
The trial continues.
