Suffolk superstar Ed Sheeran is expected to find out the result of his High Court battle over the copyright of his hit Shape Of You.
Mr Sheeran, who grew up in Framlingham, is involved in a legal row with two songwriters, Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, who claim his 2017 song rips off parts of their 2015 track Oh Why.
A judge's ruling over whether Ed Sheeran's song copied part of Chokri's track is due to be delivered tomorrow morning.
Mr Chokri, a grime artist who performs under the name Sami Switch, and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue, claimed an “Oh I” hook in Shape Of You is “strikingly similar” to an “Oh Why” refrain in their track.
The Shape of You co-authors launched legal proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to declare they had not infringed Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue’s copyright.
In July 2018, Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue issued their own claim for “copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement”.
During the 11-day trial in London last month, Mr Sheeran denied he “borrows” ideas from unknown songwriters without acknowledgement and insisted he “always tried to be completely fair” in crediting people who contribute to his albums.
The singer told the court he was trying to “clear my name” and denied using litigation to “intimidate” Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue into abandoning the copyright dispute.
All three Shape of You co-authors denied allegations of copying and said they do not remember hearing Oh Why before the legal fight.
Ian Mill QC, representing the three men, said the legal battle had been “deeply traumatising”, arguing the case should never have reached trial.
He claimed the case against them is “impossible to hold”, alleging evidence supports the argument that Shape of You was an “independent creation”.
But the Oh Why co-writers’ lawyer, Andrew Sutcliffe QC, labelled Mr Sheeran a “magpie”, claiming he “habitually copies” other artists and that it is “extremely likely” he had previously heard Oh Why.
He alleged that Mr Sheeran’s lawyers brought the legal proceedings because PRS for music – the industry body that collects and distributes royalties – had “frozen” payments for UK broadcast and performance income from Shape of You.
Mr Sheeran was targeted with a “concerted plan” by Mr Chokri’s former management to secure his interest in the Oh Why singer, the court was told, with Oh Why being sent to those around the star.
It was also claimed Mr Sheeran must have been aware of Mr Chokri because they appeared on YouTube channel SBTV at about the same time, they shared friends, Mr Chokri had sent messages to him on Twitter, and Sheeran had allegedly shouted his name at a performance.
During the case Mr Chokri said he felt "robbed" by Ed Sheeran after the Sheeran allegedly ripped off his song
Anthony Ricigliano, a forensic musicologist, concluded in a report that it was “objectively unlikely” that any similarities between the 2017 track and the song 'Oh Why' by Mr Chokri “result from copying”.
Shape of You was a worldwide hit, becoming the best-selling song of 2017 in the UK and the most streamed track in Spotify’s history.
The judgment by Mr Justice Zacaroli is due to be delivered at a remote hearing at 9.45am.
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