Ed Sheeran has been blocked from receiving any royalties for his monster hit ‘Shape of You’, after he was accused of “appropriating” other people’s music.
The global star is facing fresh allegations which accuse him of partaking “consciously or subconsciously in the habit of appropriating the compositional skill and labour of other songwriters”.
While Sheeran has denied the claims, High Court documents cite musician Sam Chokri – who is battling Sheeran over claims that the singer ripped off the chorus for ‘Shape Of You’ from Chokri’s 2015 song ‘Oh Why’.
Chokri claims that he sent the track to Sheeran’s close inner circle in a bid to work with the star, but later heard the chorus on ‘Shape Of You’ – which became the biggest selling single of 2017 in the UK and generated an estimated £20 million in revenues.
Chokri also accuses Sheeran of using material from others including TLC and Shaggy in his songs. He alleges that Sheeran was forced to include Shaggy in the credits of Liam Payne’s ‘Strip That Down’, which he co-wrote, after using using part of the melody from ‘It Wasn’t Me’.
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Sheeran’s royalties for ‘Shape Of You’ have been suspended while he awaits a court decision.
Sheeran also alleges that Chokri has damaged his reputation and blocked his revenue streams. He has denied the allegations against him.
The case has been postponed until 2020, but Sheeran is also currently involved in claims that he stole “major harmonic progressions and rhythmic elements” from Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ for his 2014 hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’.
Sheeran is also yet to respond after he was called a “clout-chaser” by Wiley. After unveiling his Stormzy collaboration ‘Take Me Back To London (remix)’ last week, the move looked to have irked Wiley – “the Godfather of Grime” – who has accused Sheeran of being a “clout chaser” by using one of the grime’s biggest stars to gain popularity.