Copyright Counterclaim Falls Flat – Ed Sheeran Exonerated

“There are only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music – coincidence is bound to happen if 60 000 songs are being released every day…that's 22 million songs a year and there are only 12 notes that are available”. Ed Sheeran's words certainly ring true, in light of the momentous victory before the UK's High Court of Justice earlier this month. In this case, Mr Justice Zacaroli ruled in favour of Mr. Sheeran and his co-authors, dismissing the claim that the hook of the song, Shape of You, infringed the copyright in the song Oh Why, written by Sami Chokri (who performs under the name “Sami Switch”) and music producer, Ross O'Donoghue. 

In reaching this decision, the Court was tasked with assessing, in rather technical detail, whether the 8-bar post-chorus of the song, in which the phrase “Oh I” is repeated three times to the tune of the first 4 notes of rising minor pentatonic scale (commencing on the C# note), qualified as a substantial part of the hook