Ed Sheeran and the “Shape of You” Copyright Case

In 2017 Ed Sheeran released Shape of You, which became one of the biggest selling singles of the streaming era and cemented his reputation as one of the world’s most successful contemporary songwriters.

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Yet behind the commercial triumph came a high profile legal dispute. In 2018 two songwriters, Sami Chokri (who performs as Sami Switch) and Ross O’Donoghue, said that Shape of You copied the hook of their 2015 track Oh Why. The dispute reached the High Court in London and became a defining moment in modern copyright law.

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The Background: Two Songs, One Phrase

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Chokri and O’Donoghue were relatively unknown compared to Sheeran, but they alleged that the “Oh I” hook in Shape of You had been copied from the “Oh why” hook in Oh Why. They argued that the melody, vocal delivery and placement of the phrase bore a striking resemblance to their work.

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Sheeran and his co writers, Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol and the producer Steven McCutcheon (known professionally as Steve Mac), denied the claim. They said the phrase was a commonplace musical expression and that the hook had been written independently.

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The stakes were high. When the concerns were raised, PRS for Music suspended royalty payments on Shape of You, and around £2.2 million had been held back by the time the case was decided.

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The Legal Battle

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It was Sheeran’s side that went to court first. In May 2018 Sheeran, McDaid and McCutcheon issued proceedings in the High Court asking for a declaration that they had not infringed copyright. Chokri and O’Donoghue then counterclaimed for infringement. The case came to trial in 2022.

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To succeed, the claimants had to show both that the songs were similar and that Sheeran had a realistic opportunity to hear Oh Why. They argued that the song had circulated in circles that could have reached him. Both sides called expert musicologists to analyse the melodic and harmonic structure of the two hooks.

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Sheeran, McDaid and McCutcheon gave evidence about how the song was written. Sheeran sang and played in court to show how he builds melodies from simple, repeated motifs, and recordings made while the song was being written were put before the court.

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The Verdict

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On 6 April 2022 Mr Justice Zacaroli found in favour of Sheeran and his co writers on every point. He found that Sheeran had not heard Oh Why before writing Shape of You, that he had not copied it deliberately, and that he had not copied it subconsciously either. The judge accepted that the hooks shared some features but found significant differences between them, and found that the “Oh I” phrase came from other sources in Sheeran’s own writing.

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In June 2022 the court ordered Chokri and O’Donoghue to pay Sheeran’s side’s legal costs, with an interim payment of £916,200 due before the final bill was assessed. The case had taken four years from start to finish.

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The Impact on the Industry

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The Shape of You case highlighted the growing number of copyright disputes in the music industry, particularly over short melodic phrases and hooks. As pop songs increasingly rely on catchy, repetitive motifs, accusations of similarity have become more common.

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The judgment reinforced the principle that copyright protects original expression but does not extend to common musical building blocks. It also showed how much weight a court will give to clear evidence of how a song was actually written.

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For Sheeran, the case became a platform to speak out about the strain of constant legal claims. He argued that baseless claims were damaging creativity, and his public stance struck a chord with many songwriters.

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Lessons for Musicians Today

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The Ed Sheeran case offers several key lessons:

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• Common elements are not protected. Short melodic phrases, particularly simple ones, are unlikely to be protected by copyright on their own.

• Documentation helps. Voice notes, demos and session files that show how a song was written can be decisive in defending a claim.

• Access must be proved. A claimant has to show that the other writer had a realistic opportunity to hear their song, not just that the two sound alike.

• Disputes are costly. Royalties can be frozen while a claim runs, and the losing side can be ordered to pay the other side’s legal costs.