Ed Sheeran wins copyright case over 2017 hit ‘Shape of You’

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Grammy Award-winning songwriter Ed Sheeran has won a U.K. copyright battle over his 2017 hit “Shape of You.” Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, had denied allegations that the song copied part of 2015′s “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch. In a ruling on Wednesday, Judge Antony Zacaroli concluded that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from “Oh Why″ when writing his smash hit. Sheerhan said he was “obviously happy” with the verdict but slammed what he described as a culture of baseless lawsuits filed to squeeze money out of artists eager to avoid the expense of a trial.