In a copyright action involving his popular 2017 song Shape of You, Ed Sheeran and his cowriter claimed they were going to High Court to “stand up for what is right and honest.”
The singer-songwriter, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid, and producer Steven McCutcheon were accused of plagiarising Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue’s song Oh Why from 2015.
The musician told BBC Two’s Newsnight in his first interview since the judgment that he had no option but to defend his work in court.
“You can get a judgment or you can get a settlement, and if you know you’re in the right, you can’t simply compromise on principle.” Sheeran commented, “You can’t settle.”
The court, on the other hand, found on Wednesday that the artist had plagiarised the song, Oh My “neither knowingly nor unconsciously.”
Following his victory, the hitmaker said that the lawsuit was about “honesty” rather than “money.”
He also said that he is relieved that it is now ended and that “we can move on and go back to composing music,” despite the fact that he admitted that the whole incident had left him unhappy and impacted his outlook on songwriting.
“The exhilaration of composing a wonderful song is the finest feeling in the world,” he remarked, “but now that sensation has morphed into second-guessing oneself.”
In an interview, the Perfect singer said he now “videos all of his songwriting sessions to defend against potential accusations.”
The 31-year-old also said that the arduous 11-month trial had taken a toll on their creativity and that now that it was over, the singer and his crew were relieved.
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