Ed Sheeran Denies Shape Of You Being A Plagiarism Song: "I'm Trying To Be Fair In Giving Credit"

Ed Sheeran (Instagram @teddysphotos)

JAKARTA - Singer Ed Sheeran gave a statement in court regarding the plagiarism case for the song Shape of You, his song in 2017.

Last week, Ed Sheeran was sued by two writers, Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue. They claim the song Shape of You sounds similar to their 2015 release Oh, Why.

In their report, Chokri and O'Donoghue said there were similarities in tone and wording between the two songs.

“He (Ed Sheeran) borrowed ideas and made them his own songs. Sometimes he notices it, sometimes he doesn't,” said Chokri and O'Donoghue's lawyer, Andrew Sutcliffe, citing NME.

Monday, March 7, Ed Sheeran denied the statements of lawyers Chokri and O'Donoghue. He claims the accusations are false because they did not do the research properly.

“I always try to be fair to give credit to anyone who contributes to the songs I write,” says Ed Sheeran.

“If there are references to other songs, I tell my team to take licensing steps. I've been as thorough as possible and gave credit to people I believe were influential in songwriting."

According to him, he has long put credit to others when he feels inspired by the musicians' songs.

"I did this because I wanted to treat other writers fairly," continued Ed Sheeran.

Ed Sheeran claims he's never heard the song Oh Why. He also credits Kandi Burruss, Kevin Briggs, and Tameka Cottle who wrote TLC's No Scrubs. Ed's party felt that there were similarities in the tone of the song Shape of You and the 1999 song.

Apart from Ed Sheeran, currently singer Dua Lipa is also facing a case of alleged plagiarism from the reggae band Artikal Sound System.