Ed Sheeran may need to shell out a $ hit ton of money for singing about a simple photograph.
The English musician, who is very good friends with Taylor Swift, is reportedly being sued for a whopping $ 20 million dollars over his track “Photograph,” according to Billboard.
Songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, along with the duo’s publishing company, allege the song borrows heavily (and illegally) from their single, “Amazing.”
They wrote and produced that song before it was released as 2010 X Factor champion Matt Cardle.
Harrington and Leonard have also written hits for some of the industry’s biggest names, including Kylie Minogue.
The plaintiffs have hired attorney Richard Busch to help build their case; he was involved in the copyright lawsuit between Marvin Gaye’s family and Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over the song “Blurred Lines.”
Those artists lost that case and were ordered to pay $ 7.4 million after a jury found they plagiarized the Motown great’s “Got to Give It Up.”
According to legal documents, “Photograph” is too similar to the original composition of “Amazing.”
The plaintiffs contend that the two songs share 39 identical notes.
A portion of the lawsuit reads as follows:
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.’
Sheeran banked over $ 20 million from the single, with the writers plaintiffs reportedly seeking statutory damages and an injunction or royalty agreement.