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A Californian songwriting duo, Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, has slammed a $20 million lawsuit on Award-winning singer/songwriter, Ed Sheeran, caliming that Sheeran’s hit song, “Photograph”, was copied.
Harrington and Leonard believe “Photograph” was copied from their original “Amazing”.
According to NBC, ‘Photograph’, which was released in 2015, allegedly contains 39 notes that are “identical in pitch, rhythmic duration, and placement in the measure” to the 2012 composition performed by 2010 X Factor UK Winner, Matt Cardle.
In the suit filed against Sheeran, they also named ‘Photograph’ co-writer Johnny McDaid, record label Warner Music Group and publishers Sony/ATV Songs and Polar Patrol Music co-defendant.
Their lawyer is the same lawyer who successfully represented the family of Marvin Gaye in a copyright infringement lawsuit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, who were accused of making their 2013 hit “Blurred Lines” too similar to Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give It Up.”
The jury awarded the family $7.4 million, which was eventually cut down to $5.3 million by a judge.