Hi!!!
You may well be aware of the current lawsuit over copyright infringement - Ed Sheeran (and crew) have been accused of copying Matt Cardle's song Amazing for the song Photograph. Here are my thoughts, having heard both songs played side by side.
First things first, Photograph is incredibly similar to Amazing and it does seem very likely that the claim that the chorus of Photograph shares 39 identical notes with Amazing is accurate. I just wanted to open with that because that is the key point in all this.
I've seen a lot of people online make comments about how Matt is 'only suing Ed because he wants to be back in the public eye' or 'because he didn't have any success after the X Factor'. This doesn't sit well with me, not least because Matt Cardle is not suing Ed, Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard are. Cardle did not write the song, nor has he ever claimed to but he did record and release it. But even if Cardle was the one suing Sheeran, why should that matter? Matt Cardle didn't go on to become a global chart sensation and most people are unfamiliar with the song Amazing. That doesn't mean that the rights and interests of the creative team behind the song don't matter, nor does it take away Matt's value as a performer. Photograph has sold more than 3.5 million copies. Ed and his team have earned a fair whack from the song. From a song that infringes the copyright of another. But people are willing to defend the plagiarism, intended or not, because its a big celebrity and his team? Something about that just doesn't seem right.
Some people have also tried to suggest that it isn't a real problem because 'Ed made a mediocre song better'. Now, I like Ed's music, I'd consider him one of my favourite 'pop stars'. But that doesn't mean that he gets a fast pass through lawsuits. Just because songs like 'A Team' or 'Thinking Out Loud' are nice to listen to doesn't mean I agree with what has happened here, whether it was intentional or not. I'm not, however, putting the sole blame on Ed's shoulders because, despite how 'organic' some people think his music is, he didn't write Photograph alone - he shares credit with Johnny McDaid and beyond that, of course, he has a team of professionals (managers, producers, and so on). His team should have done their research. They should have known better. Because they are jeopardising their artist and their own credibility within the industry.
Some people have been trying to draw parallels with the situation between Sam Smith and Tom Petty but it doesn't seem all that similar. Tom and co noticed the similarities and Sam's team came to an agreement with them to give them credit. Tom has said publicly that he believes "Sam did the right thing". He said that "Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by". It was not, according to Petty, a lawsuit. It was acknowledged and resolved. The settlement reportedly included a 12.5% writing credit to both Petty and singer-composer Jeff Lynne and the song’s credit on ASCAP lists Smith, Petty, Lynne, and Jimmy Napes as the chief songwriters. And that is why it is different.
As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter if you're Ed Sheeran and you're a global success story. To have such similarities with another song and get away with it, whether you were aware of the issue or not, is not fair. But, in my opinion, the similarities are not the biggest problem, they could easily be resolved like in the case of Smith and Petty and co. The biggest problem with all this is that the general public are totally cool with valuing celebrity status over the standard rights and interests of songwriters and musicians. People need to get their priorities straight because these are peoples livelihoods, not just the music on their playlists.
Thanks for reading today guys. I know this is a bit different than what I normally do but I felt that I had to comment.
What are your thoughts on the issue? Do you agree or disagree with me? Any suggestions for future posts? Please share your thoughts with me in the comments.
I'll speak to you all soon.
I hope you have a wonderful day!
GingerSnaps xxx
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