Ed Sheeran has agreed to settle a $20 million (18,9 million euros) lawsuit after he was accused of copying a song released by reality TV show winner Matt Cardle.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ed Sheeran has agreed to settle a $20 million (18,9 million euros) lawsuit after he was accused of copying a song released by reality TV show winner Matt Cardle.
The red-haired musician released a song called Photograph, which is said to have large chunks taken from a track called Amazing, written by Thomas Leonard and Martin Harrington.
Photograph, released in 2015, peaked at Number 10 in the US and Number 15 in the UK and has racked up more than 326 million views on YouTube. Amazing reached Number 84 in the UK charts in 2012.
The songwriters accused Sheeran of “note-for-note” copying and “unabashedly taking credit” for work that he did not pen.
In their lawsuit filed in the US they said: “This copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying, makes up nearly one half of Photograph, and raises this case to the unusual level of strikingly similar copying,”
But California judge James Selna has announced that the two sides have reached an agreement and the case was dismissed. Details of the settlement have not been released.
RECORDS TOO CLOSE TO CALL
My Sweet Lord by George Harrison
He’s so Fine by The Chiffons
Sweet Little Sixteen by Chuck Berry
Surfing USA by The Beach Boys
Blurred Lines by Robin Thick & Pharrell Williams
Gotta Give it Up by Marvin Gaye