A photograph may speak a thousand words, but for Ed Sheeran, it might cost him millions!
The British singer is currently being sued by Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, and their publishing company HaloSongs, who claimed that the smash hit “Photograph” is a total rip-off from their 2009 song “Amazing”, which was released by Matt Cardle, the winner of the 2010’s X-Factor UK.
Sheeran’s “Photograph” was released in 2014 from his sophomore album “X”, and was most recently used in the soundtrack for the popular romantic comedy “Me Before You“. According to the lawsuit, the chorus for “Photograph” and “Amazing” are 70% similar, with the plaintiffs claiming that the 2 songs share 39 identical notes of “pitch, rhythmic duration, and placement in the measure”.
Now they want at least US$20 million (roughly RM80.7 million) in damages. Interestingly enough, both Harrington and Leonard have hired Richard Busch, the same attorney who won a US$7.4 million copyright lawsuit for Marvin Gaye’s family against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for their hit single “Blurred Lines“.
For those of you who don’t know who Cardle is, the X-Factor winner competed in the British TV talent competition the same year international pop sensations One Direction were formed by Simon Cowell on the show.
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Prior to this lawsuit, suspicious fans have already pointed put the similarities between the 2 tracks, and their striking resemblance. So did Sheeran copy “Photograph” from “Amazing”? We’ll let you be the judge.
Listen to the comparison below:
You can read Matt Cardle’s response here.
Sources: E!News, Long Room, Huffington Post.
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