‘Shape of You’ is one of Ed Sheeran’s biggest hits (31). However, it is doubted whether the song really comes from him. The singer is accused by two other singer-songwriters of having committed plagiarism. Ed had to go to court today to defend himself.
“He borrows ideas and throws them into his songs”
According to Sam Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, Ed used the melody from their song ‘Oh Why’ for his own song. “Mr. Sheeran is undoubtedly very talented, a true genius,” said Andrew Sutcliffe, the attorney for the two prosecutors. “But he’s also a magpie. He borrows ideas and throws them into his songs. Sometimes he admits it, sometimes he doesn’t. It depends who you are and whether he thinks he can do it with impunity,” said the lawyer.
Ed and his fellow songwriters Steven McCutcheon and John David, however, deny that they stole the tune. Ed is therefore in court today to defend himself. According to him, the song was a ‘spontaneous inspiration’. His opponents contradict this, claiming that Ed regularly seeks ideas from others during his writing process. He is also addressed about the song ‘Photograph’, which is said to resemble Matt Cardle’s song ‘Amazing’. Ed acknowledges that the songs are similar, but according to him that is pure coincidence. “I have a lot of ideas and am often inspired. That doesn’t mean I didn’t write those songs myself.”
Ed Sheeran denies using social media to spot talent in the past. The Briton said he was also not active on social media for a long time. It wasn’t until 2017, after the release of his third album, that he made use of Twitter and Instagram again. During this period he would not have heard any songs by Sami Chokri.