Ed Sheeran is now filming himself writing a song

The plagiarism trial for Ed Sheeran’s world hit “Shape of You” ended this week in favor of the pop star. However, Sheeran wants to be prepared for further possible copyright lawsuits in the future: He films himself writing the song to have evidence. “Everything is on film,” the Briton told the BBC in an interview published on Friday.

According to Sheeran, the music industry suffers from a barrage of false plagiarism allegations that are all too often resolved through out-of-court settlements to avoid grueling lawsuits.

That’s what he felt at the beginning of his career with the song “Photograph.” After that, he stopped singing. “It made me feel dirty,” Sheeran said. However, he is now at a point where the song feels like his again.
Sheeran wants to break this practice by going to court despite financial losses. It’s not about money, he emphasized, but about honesty. “We had to stand up for what we thought was right.”

Sheeran co-wrote “Shape of You” with McDaid and McCutcheon, and the song released in 2017 is considered his biggest hit to date. With more than three billion views, it is the most-streamed song on Spotify. According to the BBC, Sheeran and his two co-writers earn the equivalent of around six million euros a year on the song. A tenth of that had been frozen during the litigation. Sheeran had asked the court to clarify the allegations before filing the lawsuit.