Ed Sheeran to “film every writing session” following copyright claim
Ed Sheeran recently won his battle against a copyright lawsuit and wants to make sure he never finds himself in court again.
Image: Joe Maher/Disasters Emergency Committee / Getty
Chart-dominator Ed Sheeran has recently admitted that he now films “every writing session” in order to prevent further copyright claims against his music.
Earlier this month, Sheeran won his High Court copyright case after an accusation that he plagiarised his smash hit Shape Of You. Artist Sami Switch accused Sheeran and his co-writers (Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid and producer Steve McCutcheon) of copying part of his song, Oh Why, but lost.
It appears the highly public case has left a lasting mark on the singer, as he now films his writing process in order to prevent further claims and provide evidence of original songwriting.
Speaking to the BBC, Sheeran spoke of how this isn’t the first instance of a plagiarism claim he’s faced as song Photograph led to him paying a settlement of £15 million. Sitting next to him, co-writer Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol states, “In the last year it got really heavy and it was consuming. The cost to our mental health and creativity was really tangible.”
"We've had claims coming through on the songs and we go, well here's the footage and you watch"
Ed Sheeran – who just won a High Court copyright case – tells @BBCNewsnight he now films all of his songwriting sessions to protect against future claimshttps://t.co/PgNBfB1C9L pic.twitter.com/7btt12xuEi
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 8, 2022
Speaking further on both claims, Sheeran adds, “I just film everything, everything’s on film and we’ve had claims come through and we go, ‘well here’s the footage and you can watch and you’ll see that there’s nothing there’.”
He also revealed how he didn’t play Photograph for a long while following the first claim, stating it made him “feel dirty”, and that he personally regrets paying settlement after being advised to do so.
Following the court battle the chart topper, known for making hits with his acoustic, also posted a personal message on the case to his Instagram where he said that instances like this are “becoming way too common now” adding that it’s “really damaging to the songwriting industry”, you can watch the full video below:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcANzfhjaHL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Ed Sheeran is now touring following the release of his latest record, =, following a four year hiatus away from music. You can get tickets on his website here.