Ed Sheeran And 'Shape Of You' Co-Writers Receive £900,000 In Costs Over Copyright Case

After being accused of copying part of their massive hit Shape Of You, Ed Sheeran and his co-writers have been awarded £900,000 of legal costs after a huge copyright win. 

Sheeran and writers Steven McCutcheon and John McDaid had been accused of copying a song by fellow UK artist Sami Chokri and Ross O'Donoghue.

The Shape Of You trio strongly denied claims of copyright, stating that claims as such "are way too common".

Judge in the case, Justice Zacarolli found that Mr Sheeran had not heard Oh Why and in any event that he did not deliberately copy the ‘oh I’ phrase from the ‘oh why’ hook”.

He dismissed the counterclaim and granted a declaration that they had not stolen or infringed the copywright on Chokri and O'Donoghue's original recording Oh Why.

In a video message after the ruling in April, Sheeran stated, "Claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there is no basis for the claim, and it’s really damaging to the songwriting industry.

“Lawsuits are not a pleasant experience and I hope with this ruling it means in the future baseless claims like this can be avoided. This really does have to end.”

Despite the dup stating that the songwriters should pay for their own legal fees, a judge on Tuesday awarded the trio an interim payment of £916,200.

“I consider it is appropriate that the claimants’ success is reflected in an order that their costs are paid by the defendants, without reduction save for that which is made as part of the process of detailed assessment,” Zacaroli said.

You can check out both songs below and decide if there really are any similarities.