Angry Ed Sheeran is suing after he was blocked from receiving any royalties from his No 1 smash Shape of You.
The 27-year-old megastar has not pocketed a penny from the song – last year’s best-selling single — since May 10 following a complaint by a little-known songwriter. Musician Sam Chokri, 25, claimed the hit tune, said to have amassed £20million in revenue, is a copy of his 2015 track Oh Why. And he has won a ruling from the Performing Rights Society, which decides on royalty payouts in England.
The PRS decided to put the hit “into suspense” in May after considering an expert report submitted by Chokri, of Reading, and songwriter pal Ross O’Donoghue. The decision means Ed has had no money from his song being broadcast or performed. The star, who has sold more than 26million albums worldwide, has launched a lawsuit to claw back the cash.
In a writ filed at London’s High Court, his lawyers say Chokri and O’Donoghue’s actions are “damaging reputationally” to Ed and have hit his “revenue streams”. They are seeking a declaration from the court to confirm he did not rip off the music, plus compensation. Chokri, who uses stage name Sami Swich, claims Ed copied large parts of his song. His lawyers wrote to the star’s Sony record label last September, claiming Shape of You had infringed his copyright. They later wrote again saying: “It quite clearly includes a substantial part of ‘Oh Why’ and our clients have ample factual evidence.” They included a musicologists’ report saying the songs had similar chorus structures, tonality and harmonic progression. Ed’s legal team fired off a response which called Chokri’s claim “false” and said the report “artificially dissected” the hit song. Meanwhile Ed and his co-songwriters insisted they had “no recollection of ever having heard of the first or second defendants or of Sami Swich, or Oh Why.”
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