Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Coincidence or theft? Rise of music streaming can make it hard to judge

Coincidence or theft? Rise of music streaming can make it hard to judge

Analysis: plagiarism row between Ed Sheeran and Sami Chokri is latest in surge of lawsuits against musicians
They may only be two words, but they are worth tens of millions of pounds. The ascending one-bar phrase “Oh I” from Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You became the focus of a plagiarism row that threw into question the very art of songwriting itself.

Over the course of an 11-day trial, Sheeran and his co-writers, John McDaid and Steve McCutcheon, faced accusations that they had ripped off the 2015 song Oh Why by the grime singer Sami Chokri and songwriter Ross O’Donoghue.

Central to Sheeran’s defence was his argument that the segment in question was “a basic minor pentatonic pattern”, which is “entirely commonplace”. The superstar even took the stand to hum musical scales from Blackstreet’s No Diggity and Nina Simone’s classic Feeling Good to demonstrate how common the melody of Shape of You was.

The argument convinced Justice Zacaroli, who ruled that Sheeran had “neither deliberately or subconsciously” ripped off Chokri’s song. But the case showed how difficult it is to differentiate between coincidence, inspiration and theft, especially when our music consumption has changed with the evolution of streaming.

In an age of YouTube and Spotify, how do we know if one artist heard another artist’s song, especially if they are relatively unknown, or if they both had the same idea?

“The judgment is an emphatic vindication of the creative genius of Ed, Johnny and Steve,” said Sheeran’s lawyers on Wednesday. “As they have always maintained, they created Shape of You together, without copying from anyone else.”

But the debate over copyright infringement in pop continues to rage, as a surge of lawsuits against some of the world’s biggest pop stars are brought to court.

The most significant, experts agree, was the 2018 lawsuit in which Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were found guilty of copying “the feel” of Marvin Gaye’s song Got to Give It Up and ordered to pay $5m (£3.8m) to Gaye’s family and future royalties.

“The kind of borrowing that was at the heart of the Blurred Lines case has generally not been found to be a copyright violation in the past,” said Dr Tim Hughes, a senior lecturer in music at the University of West London.

“Blurred Lines is an example of what might be called a pastiche: a song consciously written in the style of another. Musical history is full of examples of that practice (although generally not so blatant). But the publicity and the damages awarded in that case were so extreme that it has clearly helped encourage further lawsuits.”

Other recent litigations include two against Dua Lipa over her song Levitating, one against Katy Perry over her song Dark Horse, and one against Taylor Swift over her 2014 hit Shake It Off by two songwriters who claim she lifted their phrases.

Sheeran himself settled a $20m plagiarism lawsuit for his song Photograph in 2017, after he was accused of copying former X Factor winner Matt Cardle’s Amazing.

Olivia Rodrigo added two members of Paramore to the writing credits of her hit single Good 4 U, after fans noted similarities to Paramore’s Misery Business. She’s also been accused of copying the riff from Elvis Costello’s Pump It Up in her song Brutal.

But as Costello noted when he came to her defence, this is part and parcel of the process of making music. “It’s how rock & roll works,” he said. “You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did.”

According to Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist at Berklee College Of Music in the US, “opportunistic plaintiffs” are exploiting a common musical error that listeners can make, which is to assume that plagiarism is the only explanation for one melody being slightly similar to another.

“There are 60,000 songs uploaded to Spotify every day, with more than 82m recordings in the catalogue,” Bennett said.

“Right now, we’re in an era of mainstream pop where a lot of songs are based on two- and four-bar chord loops … So once in a while a short coincidental similarity occurs, and the plaintiffs are so struck by the similarity that they believe the only explanation must be plagiarism. They are often mistaken.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×