(LONDON) British pop star Ed Sheeran was awarded more than one million euros (C$1.4 million) in damages on Tuesday to cover his legal costs in a successful legal battle against songwriters who accused him of plagiarism.
Posted at 4:31 p.m.
In early April, the 31-year-old singer won his case before the High Court in London, after a lawsuit he considered emblematic of abusive practices that undermine the music industry.
For justice, he did not copy, neither “deliberately” nor “unknowingly”, part of the melody of the song oh why (2015) by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue for his planetary hit Shape of Youone of the best-selling titles in the world.
In a supplementary judgment on Tuesday, Judge Antony Zacaroli ruled that the unsuccessful plaintiffs should pay court costs of £916,200 ($1,452,635 at current prices).
During the trial, which lasted ten days in March, the two titles were broadcast – as well as, by mistake, an extract from one of his unreleased songs.
Ed Sheeran had then denied “borrowing” ideas from little-known composers, while the plaintiffs’ lawyer, while acknowledging his “genius”, had accused him of being “a magpie”, in reference to the bird which is sometimes accused of being a thief.