Copyright claim against Ed Sheeran’s ‘Photograph’ dismissed

A district judge has dismissed a copyright claim brought by two US musicians over singer Ed Sheeran’s hit “Photograph”.

Judge James Selna of the US District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division dismissed (pdf) with prejudice the copyright claim brought by Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard yesterday, April 10.

In June last year, WIPR reported that Sheeran had been named in a copyright infringement claim by Harrington and Leonard.

The pair filed their complaint at the California court on June 8.

They argued that Sheeran’s song “Photograph” had similar elements to their track “Amazing”.

“Photograph” was included in the album “x”, released in the US in 2014. The song came out as a single a year later.

Harrington and Leonard, who own music company HaloSongs, claim to have written “Amazing” in 2009.

“Amazing” was performed by Matt Cardle, the winner of the “X Factor 2010” singing competition in the UK.

In the suit, the pair said Sheeran “copied, and exploited, without authorisation or credit, the work of other active, professional songwriters, on a breath-taking scale”.

In October last year, WIPR  reported that lawyers for Sheeran asked the court to dismiss the copyright claim or strike from it “certain matter” that is “redundant, immaterial or scandalous”.

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