The lawsuit over Sheeran's monster hit "Photograph" is filed by the same attorney who repped the Marvin Gaye family in the "Blurred Lines" copyright case.
Ed Sheeran's "Photograph" is the type of song that will have his fans singing along, that will bring other pop superstars like Keith Urban to admit being amazed with its tune craft. Unfortunately, Sheeran's big hit from last summer will now reach a federal judge's ears too because on Wednesday, it was alleged in a new $20 million lawsuit that something that otherwise brings good vibes constitutes "verbatim, note-for-note copying."
Song theft lawsuits are increasingly common, but this one has plaintiffs who have written chart-toppers for many prominent artists in the industry including Kylie Minogue and Spice Girl Emma Bunton. The suing songwriters, Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, along with their publishing company HaloSongs, say Sheeran's "Photograph" derives from their 2009 work, "Amazing," which was recorded and released as a single by Matt Cardle, the winner of the 2010 season of the television competition show The X Factor. Perhaps most notably, the plaintiffs are represented by attorney Richard Busch, whose last big copyright lawsuit was on behalf of the Marvin Gaye family over the hit, "Blurred Lines." That one resulted in a head-turning $5.3 million judgment.