Ed Sheeran has found himself at the centre of a $20m copyright infringement lawsuit. The writers of X Factor winner Matt Cardle's song Amazing launched the legal action against him after alleging that he copied their work in his 2014 hit single Photograph.
Songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, who have also written for Kylie Minogue and Emma Bunton, have hired hot-shot attorney Richard Busch to take the case.
He recently won a similar case on behalf of Marvin Gaye's family over the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams single Blurred Lines. The pair were ordered to pay $5.3m for infringing the copyright of Gaye's song Got To Give It Up.
Matt Cardle is not involved in the lawsuit
The duo allege that Sheeran's single "note-for-note" copies the 2009 song Amazing that they co-wrote for Matt Cardle. However Cardle has been at pains to point out that the lawsuit has nothing to do with him, telling his Twitter followers that Ed is a genius and 100% deserves his success.
Please read news articles closely. This is not my lawsuit. I think @edsheeran is a genius & 100% deserves all his success 🙏🏽❤️ X
— Matt Cardle (@mattcardle) June 9, 2016
Amazing was the third single released by the 2010 X Factor winner but only made it as far as No. 84 in the UK chart. On the other hand Photograph - the video of which features clips of a young Sheeran busking in Galway - has sold more than 3.4 million copies worldwide.
In their lawsuit Harington and Leonard claim that "the chorus sections of Amazing and the infringing Photograph share 39 identical notes – meaning the notes are identical in pitch, rhythmic duration and placement in the measure."
"The song's similarities reach the very essence of the world. The similarities go beyond substantial, which is itself sufficient to establish copyright infringement, and are in fact striking," the lawsuit says.
"The similarity of words, vocal style, melody, and rhythm are clear indicators, among other things, that Photograph copies Amazing."
Ed Sheeran has yet to comment on the allegations.
