Ed Sheeran Being Sued For €16.5M For Alleged Plagiarism

The lawsuit revolves around Sheeran's song 'Photograph' which bears similarities to song released by X Factor winner.

Singer Songwriter Ed Sheeran is under hot water as his song 'Photograph' is allegedly a copy of a song by former X Factor winner Matt Cardle.

A $20m lawsuit has been filed by songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard against Ed alongside co-writer, Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid as well as music labels and publishing companies.

The song in question is Matt Cardle's 'Amazing' which was released in 2012.

The lawsuit states: "The chorus sections of Amazing and the infringing Photograph share 39 identical notes – meaning the notes are identical in pitch, rhythmic duration, and placement in the measure.

"The songs' similarities reach the very essence of the work. 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."

The lawyer behind the lawsuit is Richard Busch who successfully won the case against Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines for Marvin Gaye's family who claimed the hit was a rip-off of Gaye's Got To Give It Up. Thick & Pharrell Williams were ordered to pay $7.3 million in copyright infringement due to similarities between the two songs. After an appeal the payout was reduced but the Gaye estate is entitled to 50% of any publishing and songwriting revenue from Thicke & Williams' hit single.