Audio By Carbonatix
Ed Sheeran scored another legal win.
According to Variety, the English singer-songwriter was awarded seven figures in his years-long copyright lawsuit over “Shape of You,” his Grammy-winning single that debuted in 2017.
Though Sheeran won the case earlier this year—and was effectively cleared of wrongdoing—a British judge ruled the 31-year-old artist was entitled to $1.1 million to cover his legal fees.
“The starting point is to identify the winners and losers in the action because the general rule is that the unsuccessful party pays the costs of the successful party,” Judge Antony Zacaroli wrote in his decision, as reported by Variety.
“There is no dispute as to this: [Sheeran] undoubtedly won and won on every substantial point [...] I consider it is appropriate that the claimants’ success is reflected in an order that their costs are paid by the defendants.”
In 2018, Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue sued Sheeran for allegedly ripping off his 2015 record “Oh Why.” The plaintiffs claimed Sheeran, along with co-writers Steve McCutcheon and Johnny McDaid, copied “particular lines and phrases” from “Oh Why.” However, Zacaroli—who acknowledged clear similarities between the songs—determined the defendants “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” plagiarized “Oh Why” when writing “Shape of You.”
Sheeran previously addressed the win in an Instagram video, where he underscored the damage of these kinds of suits.
“While we’re obviously happy with the result, 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 said.
“Even if there’s no base for the claim. It’s really damaging to the songwriting industry. There is only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music. Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 songs are being released every day on Spotify.”
Latest Stories
-
Some Ghanaians express disappointment over MPs conduct in Paliament
26 minutes -
A/R: 441 deaths, over 4,000 injured as of September 2025 – NRSA on road crashes
34 minutes -
Northern Regional Police raises alarm over surge in child trafficking cases
48 minutes -
UG researcher closes in on blueprint for predicting viral severity
55 minutes -
NAIMOS arrests 8 imposters posing as anti-galamsey task force at Wassa Juabo
56 minutes -
Citizen drags AG to Supreme Court over legality of OSP – Deputy AG confirms
1 hour -
A cultural theorist and financier provides a diplomatic framework analysis following the Ben Gurion airport incident
2 hours -
GES announces dates for 2025 teachers’ promotion examinations
2 hours -
Concerned Small-Scale Miners record progress in clearing River Offin of illegal mining
2 hours -
Judiciary urges stronger national action to tackle gender based violence
2 hours -
NAIMOS seizes excavator, destroys shelters at Kakra
3 hours -
Benin coup plot leader hiding in Togo, official tells BBC
3 hours -
Trump veers off-script and does little to calm Republican nerves
3 hours -
Interior Minister launches online digital services portal to transform public service delivery
3 hours -
ECOWAS announces tax-free air travel across member states from January 2026
3 hours
