Ed Sheeran Serenades Hoping To Prove To High Court He Didn’t Steal “Shape Of You”
BBC News reports pop star Ed Sheeran attempted to use his warm, low tenor to his benefit recently while standing trial in London’s High Court.
Sheeran faces accusations of stealing the hook of his 2017 single, “Shape of You,” from Sami Chokri’s 2015 song, “Oh Why.” Hoping to illustrate the limitations of melody in popular music, Sheeran sand Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” and then Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.”
“If you put them all in the same key, they’ll sound the same Sheeran contends he’s never even heard Chokri’s “Oh Why” said Ed Sheeran.
Sheeran , ‘who reportedly consumes music “voraciously,” insists that in 2016, when “Oh Why” experienced heavy cirfulation in the UK., he was not “plugged in.” The pop star says “Shape of You” was initially better suited for artists Little Mix or Rihanna. He says he hesistated to release the song himself.
” I didn’t want to put it out and I was… proved wrong.” “Shape of You ” was the best-selling single of 2017. Sheeran’s royalties, though currently frozen, are said to be worth about $26 million.
Sheeran’s legal team launched proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to find Chokri’s melody had not been infringed by “Shape of You.” Subsequently, in July 2018, Chokri’s filed a claim citing “copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement.”
