Ed Sheeran hit with another copyright claim
Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has been hit with a copyright claim over a song he co-wrote with country stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
The three singers are being sued for $5 million by two Australians who claim that the song “ The Rest Of Our Life”, the title track of McGraw and Hill’s duets album, infringes a song owned by the Australian duo.
In a claim filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York yesterday, January 10, Sean Carey and Beau Golden sued over the “blatant copying” of their song “ When I Found You”.
Sony Music Entertainment and the song’s other co-writers were also named as defendants.
“The copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying of important and original elements of the song, and is obvious to the ordinary observer,” claimed the pair, adding that the allegedly infringing song was “almost a note for note copy” of theirs.
“When I Found You” was written in 2014 by Australian songwriters Carey, Golden, and Jasmine Rae (who is not a plaintiff), and the song was released in 2015.
According to Carey and Golden, the song has reached over 150,000 streams on Spotify. It now has 64,000 views on YouTube.
Carey and Golden also claimed that Sony Music Entertainment, the company that released “The Rest Of Our Life”, knew the copying had occurred but did nothing to prevent it and didn’t alert the pair.
The plaintiffs didn’t stop their allegations there—according to the claim, “it very well may have been an agent of Sony Music Entertainment who provided the other defendants” with access to their song.
As an alternative theory, the plaintiffs stated that Sheeran was “touring extensively” across Australia when the track “When I Found You” was being played frequently on the radio.
The plaintiffs are seeking at least $5 million in damages, injunctive relief, and royalties if injunctive relief is not appropriate.
Richard Busch, partner at King & Ballow and the attorney for the plaintiffs, also represented the plaintiffs in a suit brought against Sheeran over his song “Photograph”.
Sheeran was targeted in a $20 million copyright infringement claim which alleged that “Photograph” had similar elements to a track that was performed by singer Matt Cardle, the winner of the 2010 series of UK TV talent show “X Factor”, in 2011.
The claim was dismissed in April last year and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the plaintiffs were added as co-authors on “Photograph”.
Busch said: “We do not take the filing of a lawsuit lightly. That is why we only file cases after a thorough investigation, and why we plead the facts so specifically and with enormous detail in the complaint, including, in cases like this, transcriptions to show the musical similarities.”
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