Ed Sheeran and his co-authors were awarded more than £ 900,000 in court costs after winning the copyright lawsuit in the High Court over the hit Shape of You earlier this year.
During a lawsuit in March, singer and co-star John McDade of Snow Patrol and producer Stephen McCutchen were accused of ripping off a 2015 song by Sami Chocri and Ross O’Donoghue.
However, Judge Zacaroli concluded that Sheeran “neither intentionally nor subconsciously” copied a phrase in the song.
Sheeran, his co-authors and their music companies initially launched a lawsuit in May 2018, asking the Supreme Court to declare that they had not infringed on the copyrights of Chocri and O’Donoghue.
Two months later, Chokri, a dirty artist who plays under the name Sami Switch, and O’Donoghue filed their own lawsuit for “copyright infringement, damages and a profit statement in connection with the alleged infringement.”
The couple claims that the hook “oh I” in Shape Of You is “strikingly similar” to the refrain “oh why” in their own song.
But in his previous decision, Zacaroli concluded that “Mr. Sheeran had not heard ‘Oh, Why’ and in any case had not deliberately copied the phrase ‘Oh, I’ from the ‘Oh, Why’ hook.”
He dismissed the counterclaim and provided a statement to Sheeran and his fellow songwriters that they had not infringed Oh Why’s copyright.
Following the ruling, Chokri and O’Donoghue’s lawyers said Sheeran and the other plaintiffs had to pay their own costs, claiming they had not provided documents and had demonstrated “inconvenience and opacity.”
However, in a ruling Tuesday, Zacaroli said lesser-known songwriters had to pay court costs, ordering an interim payment of £ 916,200.
A next hearing is expected to assess and finalize the amounts.
“I consider it appropriate that the applicants’ success be reflected in the order that their costs be paid by the defendants, without reduction, other than what has been done as part of the detailed assessment process,” Zacaroli said.
The judge rejected arguments that the defendants would have changed their approach to the case if some documents and explanations on how Shape of You was written had been provided earlier.
Zacaroli said: “None of the revelations or explanations once given to the accused made them change their approach at all.
“Instead, they not only continued their attack on Mr. Sheeran, but expanded it by claiming that he was the ‘magpie’ who habitually appropriated song ideas from other authors.”
Sign up for the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST
During an 11-day trial in central London, Sheeran denied “borrowing” ideas from unknown songwriters without acknowledgment, and insisted that he “always tried to be completely fair” in lending to people who contributed to the albums. mu.
In a video message after the April ruling, Sheeran said: “Requests like this are all too common now and have become a culture in which the claim is made with the idea that the agreement will be cheaper than bringing it to court, even if there are is not a claim and is really harmful to the songwriting industry.
“Litigation is not a pleasant experience and I hope that with this decision it means that in the future unfounded claims like this can be avoided. That really needs to end. “
Add Comment