It has come out that Ed Sheeran could face a $20 million lawsuit over his hit song “Photograph.” The lawsuit, brought forth by Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, claims that “Photograph” (which has sold 3.5 million copies) is largely a “note-for-note copying” of “Amazing,” a song they wrote in 2009 and recorded by X Factor winner Matt Cardle in 2012.
(Listen to 0:49 in “Amazing” and 2:28 in “Photograph.”)
The lawsuit focuses mostly on the choruses of the two tracks. It affirms that “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 lawsuit reads.
The suit was filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles. It is not clear at this time how this will move forward. However, if it is anything like the similar case facing Skrillex & Justin Bieber over their track “Sorry,” then this will likely go to court or end up being settled for a large amount of money.
This video also gives credence to the lawsuit, exhibiting intense similarities between the two tracks.
Recall, Ed Sheeran and Martin Garrix have a collab, “Rewind, Repeat It” that is expected to release on Garrix’s highly anticipated debut album.
via Mashable