Ed Sheeran pays $20 Million to end copyright suit

Plaintiffs claimed singer had copied ‘Photograph’ from their song

Ed Sheeran may be flying high on the success of his latest album Divide but not everything has been all hunky dory in the English singer-songwriter’s life. Just recently, Ed has had to settle a $20 million copyright infringement lawsuit over his 2014 hit Photograph, reported Fortune Magazine.

The case was dismissed on Friday with prejudice. In layman’s terms, this means that the plaintiffs would be unable to file a lawsuit with the same claim again, as explained by The Hollywood Reporter. The report did not detail the terms of the settlement.



Songwriters Thomas Leonard and Martin Harrington accused Ed of “verbatim, note-for-note copying” their 2009 song Amazing, written for Matt Cardle, the 2012 winner of The X Factor. “The songs’ similarities reach the very essence of the work,” the complaint, filed in June 2016, said. “The similarities go beyond substantial, which is itself sufficient to establish copyright infringement, and are in fact striking. The similarity of words, vocal style, vocal melody, melody and rhythm are clear indicators, among other things, that Photograph copies Amazing.”



Sheeran is also being sued for allegedly copying elements of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit Let’s Get It On in Thinking Out Loud, one of the biggest hits he has delivered throughout his career.

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