Ed Sheeran is being sued for $20 million over his allegedly stolen song "Photograph" by the same attorney who successfully sued and won last year for Marvin Gaye's family over the tune "Blurred Lines," according to
The Hollywood Reporter.
Attorney Richard Busch filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in California on behalf of songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard and their publishing company HaloSongs, said THR.
The songwriters charge that Sheeran's "Photograph" was lifted from their 2009 song "Amazing," which was recorded by 2010 "X-Factor" winner Matt Cardle, said THR.
"This is an action for willful copyright infringement in which Sheeran and (John) McDaid, the credited writers of the international hit song 'Photograph,' among others, copied, and exploited, without authorization or credit, the work of other active, professional songwriters, on a breathtaking scale, unabashedly taking credit for the work of these songwriters by claiming it to be their own," stated the
lawsuit parked at scribd.
"This copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying, makes up nearly one half of 'Photograph,' and raises this case to the unusual level of strikingly similar copying."
Along with McDaid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Warner Music Group and its subsidiary, Atlantic Recording Corporation were named in the lawsuit, which is seeking damages and royalties from "Photograph."
BBC News noted that Harrington has written tracks for Emma Bunton, 5ive, and Kylie Minogue. He has also worked with Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, Westlife, Busted, Atomic Kitten, and Blue.
Leonard has writing credits for songs done by Backstreet Boys, Zero 7, and Echosmith.
In March 2015, a Los Angeles jury decided that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams should pay the Gaye family $7.3 million for their hit song "Blurred Lines," which the family claims was ripped off from the late singer's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up," reported
Variety's Alex Stedman.
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