Last Friday, court papers were filed dismissing a case against Ed Sheeran over a copyright infringement suit over his song, “Photograph.”
Songwriters, Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard and their publishing company HaloSongs, filed a lawsuit in June 2016, alleging that Sheeran’s song was derived from their own original work “Amazing.” The song was a single which was released by Matt Cardle, the winner of the 2010 TV competition show, The X Factor. Richard Busch, the same attorney who prevailed at trial on behalf of the Marvin Gaye family in the copyright lawsuit over “Blurred Lines”, represented Harrington and Leonard, in court. The complaint alleged that there was “verbatim, note-for-note copying,” and sheet music was included to prove this point.
The songwriters filed a $20 million copyright infringement suit and got their answers this Friday. Court papers dismissed the case with prejudice also specifying that a California federal court would retain jurisdiction to enforce the terms of an agreement. Although the settlement terms are undisclosed it is certain that the defendants, Sheeran, Sony/ ATV and Warner Music will provide a hefty penny to escape claims.
Credit: Jessica Wong
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