Copyright lawsuits are ruining pop music – just ask Ed Sheeran

Cases against Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa confirm the adage: Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ. Is it time to call an amnesty on songcraft?

Neil McCormick

Mar 18, 2022 – 3.00pm

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Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa stand accused of ripping off other people’s songs. These are depicted as David versus Goliath battles, pitting small-time talents against entertainment giants. So why are my sympathies in these cases almost entirely on the side of Goliath?

Sheeran has been in the UK High Court passionately denying he nicked a hook for his 2017 multibillion streaming hit Shape of You from an obscure 2015 track Oh My by a British rap singer named Sami Switch, who has, at last count, fewer than 45,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

The Telegraph London