A few weeks ago Massachusetts musician Casey Dienel accused Justin Bieber and Skrillex of ripping off her White Hinterland song in the pop duo’s recent hit “Sorry”, and now another lawsuit has surfaced over alleged copyright infringement.
According to the BBC, two American musicians, Martin Harrington and American Thomas Leonard, claim British singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran ripped off their song “Amazing” — released in 2012 by X Factor winner Matt Cardle — for Sheeran’s own hit, “Photograph”.
The lawsuit, filed in Central District of California federal court in Los Angeles, seeks $20 million in damages.
More from the BBC:
“In documents, that include musical note comparison and chord breakdowns of the two songs, the pair claim the chorus of Photograph shares 39 identical notes with their track. They say the similarities are ‘instantly recognisable to the ordinary observer’.
“The lawsuit says: ‘Given the striking similarity between the chorus of ‘Amazing’ and ‘Photograph’, (the) defendants knew when writing, publishing, recording, releasing, and distributing ‘Photograph’ that they were infringing on a pre-existing musical composition. The conduct of (the) defendants has been wilful from the inception of the creation of ‘Photograph’. The copying of ‘Amazing’ by ‘Photograph’ is breathtaking in its deliberateness, magnitude, and hubris.'”
Sheeran’s “Photograph” has sold more than 3.5 million copies around the world, and has amassed 208 million plays on YouTube. It’s also featured in the new film Me Before You.
Cardle’s “Amazing” has just more than a million plays on the video streaming site. Listen to both below…