Sheeran Gone Done and Won

darthed1981

Couldn't see a thread on this crucial result for musicians everywhere

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61006984

Ed Sheeran has won his case, basically it turns out you can't copyright a progression up the pentatonic scale.

Pop music only has so many chords and notes to work with.

With 60,000 songs uploaded to streaming services a day, 2.2 million a year (a staggering figure) popular music is now so commonplace as to have rendered itself basically a commodity.  Ironically musicians, by being so prolific, have reduced the perceived value of their art once again.

The few artists at the top making major bank accidentally making something that sounds a bit like one of the 59,999 songs uploaded each day only the artists and their mums give a shit about could have become one of the few ways to make money on Spotify, hoping the Sheeran's of this world would settle, and pay their mortgages.

I see this as a pretty good result, or the only people making money going forwards would be people who program the software that looks for similar patterns in other songs.

What say ye all?

monquixote

I think justice was done.

It's such a generic pattern that you would be able to find a hundred songs the same.

If this isn't stamped out every generic pop song is going to end up being sued into oblivion. 

The Dua Lipa one is more interesting as it appears they have both ripped off the same parent song

BillDL

The article quotes the plaintiff in an image caption:

Sami Chokri described the High Court case as "the worst few weeks of my life"

Tough titty!  You were the one that started it.  Did you think about how it would affect the defendant before embarking on a spurious attempt to rip off somebody else's profits with very tenuous "evidence"?

Philly_Q

I think most of these cases are bullshit.  I often hear little bits of songs which sound like something else but I doubt there's any ripping off going on - consciously or even subconsciously.

DefaultM

Didn't they say that they'd sent the song to Ed Sheeran and made numerous attempts to get him to collaborate but got nothing back? I thought they were accusing him of listening to it, ignoring them and then nicking it. What happened with that bit?

Roland

Who thinks it was a speculative “they’ll settle out of court” case?

Blueingreen

BillDL said:

The article quotes the plaintiff in an image caption:

Sami Chokri described the High Court case as "the worst few weeks of my life"

Tough titty!  You were the one that started it.  Did you think about how it would affect the defendant before embarking on a spurious attempt to rip off somebody else's profits with very tenuous "evidence"?

Indeed. World weep for me, I was led into a highly stressful situation by my own cynical and unprincipled greed.

darthed1981

DefaultM said:

Didn't they say that they'd sent the song to Ed Sheeran and made numerous attempts to get him to collaborate but got nothing back? I thought they were accusing him of listening to it, ignoring them and then nicking it. What happened with that bit?

I suspect the judge probably was shown a picture of the bin at his management office full of demos from one day's post...

darthed1981

It's incredibly important that the case was won by Sheeran.

If not the next one would be some asshole claiming they own 1,6,4,5.

sev112

I think these cases only are potentially relevant if they can prove that the “plagiarist” had heard the song, which is very different to “I wrote a similar song before”, and not the same as “I sent them a copy of the song”.  

And that’s just to get them to the starting point of making a claim.  

Then you have to prove that the alleged plagiariser would not have made any money during that period without that song, yet a mega star would have just had a different song that would have made all the money; so ostensibly for that claim to stand so must other potential cases for songs that sound like songs that the megastar didn’t release, thereby denying all other songwriters of not being able to claim the same about the song he didn’t release and make loads of money from.

The last bit of which is a bit spurious and fun, but it’s been a long week already and I’m ready for my bed

horse

I don't know, I hadn't heard the other track until today,, and have to say I was surprised at the similarity, and I might have been a bit suspicious if it had been my track. I wouldn't have risked taking on his legal team / resources though...

I think it was the "lyrics" combined with the progression that make it a bit closer than "just the same melody" or progression etc

darthed1981

horse said:

I don't know, I hadn't heard the other track until today,, and have to say I was surprised at the similarity, and I might have been a bit suspicious if it had been my track. I wouldn't have risked taking on his legal team / resources though...

I think it was the "lyrics" combined with the progression that make it a bit closer than "just the same melody" or progression etc

Yeah but you could say that about the Katy Perry one as well, and that was bollocks.

...and the Dua Lipa one, they happened to nick the same song as was said up-thread.

They are all chasing a sort of myth.

That out there is THE song, and that song is what makes you huge, or one phrase from one song.

It's bollocks.

It's the PRODUCT that sells, like with any other industry.  Sure, yes, music is art, sure, heck why not.  But each and every creator of those 60,000 songs a day feels they have made a piece of art, even if only their Mum ever hears it.

But it's SOLD as a piece of entertainment and a piece of product and that's what Ed Sheeran and his team got so, so right.

jellyroll

horse said:

I don't know, I hadn't heard the other track until today,, and have to say I was surprised at the similarity, and I might have been a bit suspicious if it had been my track. I wouldn't have risked taking on his legal team / resources though...

I think it was the "lyrics" combined with the progression that make it a bit closer than "just the same melody" or progression etc

I agree. I was all ready to sneer at Sami Switch for trying to pull a fast one - until I heard his song. The songs are very close. IMO Sami has every right to feel that his work has been stolen - even if it was inadvertent. 

horse

jellyroll said:

horse said:

I don't know, I hadn't heard the other track until today,, and have to say I was surprised at the similarity, and I might have been a bit suspicious if it had been my track. I wouldn't have risked taking on his legal team / resources though...

I think it was the "lyrics" combined with the progression that make it a bit closer than "just the same melody" or progression etc

I agree. I was all ready sneer at Sami Switch for trying to pull a fast one - until I heard his song. The songs are very close. IMO Sami has every right to feel that his work has been stolen - even if it was inadvertent. 

 My guess would be an unconscious influence is quite possible, but impossible to actually prove. A bit like the snowy white / knopfler one to my mind.

I get what Ed means about it only being what it was because of who Sheeran is, but in the other guys place I think I might feel a little hard done by. He had a song he was proud of and believed the main theme was used without credit. I guess he was poorly advised in going after it though, and I doubt Sheeran deliberately stole the idea anyhow - and if it was subconscious he wouldn't know it would he?

DefaultM

I'm sure Ed Sheeran's new one is just Boys of Summer but I've not had time to compare. It's definitely something. There are little bits in loads of his songs where you think "Oh that's so and so" though. 

axisus

Glad he won. This sort of stuff needs throwing out before getting to court. It’s about time.

JezWynd

jellyroll said:

horse said:

I don't know, I hadn't heard the other track until today,, and have to say I was surprised at the similarity, and I might have been a bit suspicious if it had been my track. I wouldn't have risked taking on his legal team / resources though...

I think it was the "lyrics" combined with the progression that make it a bit closer than "just the same melody" or progression etc

I agree. I was all ready to sneer at Sami Switch for trying to pull a fast one - until I heard his song. The songs are very close. IMO Sami has every right to feel that his work has been stolen - even if it was inadvertent. 

Agreed. When he heard Sheeran’s song, he couldn’t have felt anything other than “hey, that’s my tune!” Whether Sheeran did take it, consciously or unconsciously, was up to the judge to decide. Sami must be feeling gutted, I hope it hasn’t cost him too dearly.

darius

But also Joe Satriani sued Coldplay for something only mildly similar. I think they settled out of court. If even the big boys are trying it on with each other then that sets the example for everyone on Spotify to sue everyone else on Spotify. Bonkers. 

FRockStar

I gotta say, I feel sorry for the Snitch guy (or whatever he's called) .. If you're a grime artist and you've basically just come out and said your tunes sound just like Ed Sheeran, that can't be good for your street cred. Good exposure, sure, but I wouldn't take 5 mil for admitting my songs sound like Ed even if it was offered.




Ok.. Maybe I would. Yeah, I would take five. But not one or two. Aw fuck it, I'd probably do an Ed Sheeran tribute night for fifty quid, but that's just me. Cheap tart. Hmm.. This post didn't end up the way I thought it would..

ArchtopDave

It's a good job J S Bach is dead, otherwise he'd be suing everybody. As was said a long time ago 'If Bach didn't write it in the first place, then it ain't music". 

darthed1981

Did anyone notice that Bad Habits features the lyric "talking to a stranger I barely know..."

If he's in trouble it should be for that, I mean think about it for just a second.