LONDON— British singer Ed Sheeran won a copyright case at the High Court in London on Wednesday over whether a refrain in his 2017 mega hit “Shape Of You” had been lifted from another artist.
Sheeran had been involved in a legal battle with grime artist Sami Chokri, who performs as Sami Switch, and music producer Ross O’Donoghue, who had argued the hook from “Shape of You” had been copied from their 2015 song “Oh Why”.
“While there are similarities between the OW (Oh Why) Hook and the OI (Oh I) Phrase, there are also significant differences,” the judge, Antony Zacaroli, concluded.
“I am satisfied that Mr Sheeran did not subconsciously copy Oh Why in creating Shape.”
Sheeran’s hit became the best-selling digital song worldwide in 2017 and has received more than 5.6 billion views on YouTube.
Sheeran had faced lengthy questioning about his work during last month’s trial, with accusations from the lawyer for Chokri and O’Donoghue that he simply altered other artists’ music and words to pass their work off as his own.
The singer said he always credited other artists and told the court he had never heard the “Oh Why” song he was accused of ripping off.
—Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Kate Holton
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