Ed Sheeran settles copyright infringement claim over "Photograph"

Ed Sheeran has reportedly settled a copyright infringement claim relating to his 2014 single "Photograph", which featured on the album "X".

We reported on the case in June last year and our article can be found here. The claim was based on two Californian musicians' song "Amazing", released by Matt Cardle, the 2012 X Factor winner. The claimants had claimed the similarities were "instantly recognisable to the ordinary observer", and cited note comparison documents which they had submitted to the court.

The claimants' lawyer in the Sheeran claim also acted for Marvin Gaye's family in their successful claim against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, which resulted in a settlement of around £5.1 million. The news of settlement in this case comes following Sheeran's hugely successful release of his new album "Divide". The claim against Sheeran was for around £13.8 million, but no details of settlement have been disclosed and it is likely that any settlement agreement contained a confidentiality clause.

There have been a spate of high profile musical copyright cases in recent years, and not only infringement claims; in a very high profile case, Duran Duran were recently granted permission to appeal a High Court judgment against them relating to artists' rights. That case is widely thought to be a test case relating to artists' rights, and will be interesting to follow.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.