Greg WilliamsEd Sheeran apparently avoided a lawsuit by adding the writers of the TLC hit “No Scrubs” to his current #1 hit “Shape of You.” Now he’s settled another one over his hit song “Photograph.”
Billboard reports the case has been dismissed with prejudice, which means the plaintiffs are prohibited from bringing their suit again. However, Billboard reports the settlement also stipulates that a federal court in California retains their jurisdiction over the suit in order to enforce the terms of any agreement.
Billboard speculates that it’s likely there was some kind of settlement agreed to in order to get the plaintiffs to end the $20 million copyright infringement lawsuit.
Songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard sued Ed and his co-writers in June of last year, claiming that “Photograph” ripped off the 2009 composition “Amazing,” which had been released as a single by Matt Cardle, winner of the 2010 edition of British show The X Factor. The suit claimed that Ed copied the song “verbatim, note for note.”
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