A music expert has said Ed Sheeran's 'Shape Of You' is "coincidentally similar" to another artist's song but has "distinctive differences", during a copyright trial at the High Court.
Mr Sheeran, who grew up in Framlingham, is involved in a legal row with two songwriters, Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, who claim his 2017 hit 'Shape of You' rips off parts of their 2015 track 'Oh Why'.
Anthony Ricigliano a forensic musicologist concluded in a report that it was “objectively unlikely” that any similarities between the 2017 track and the song 'Oh Why' by Sami Chokri “result from copying”.
Mr Ricigliano gave evidence over his analysis of the two songs at an ongoing High Court trial in London today, Wednesday, March 16.
Lawyers for Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue allege that when the two songs’ melodies are transposed into the same key “the progression of notes is the same”.
They also claim the rhythm of the tracks’ melodies are “almost identical”, their use of instrumentation “creates a strikingly similar sound and texture” and the vowel sounds in the chanted tune “further enhances the similarity in musical sound and texture”.
Mr Ricigliano, who was instructed by the 'Shape Of You' co-writers’ lawyers but told the court he was “completely impartial”, said in a report that he considered the extent of the alleged similarities between the two songs to be “overstated”.
The forensic musicologist wrote that “the overall design and musical development of the melodic, harmonic and lyrical content in the relevant phrase in Shape of You are distinctively different from that utilized in 'Oh Why'”.
Mr Ricigliano added: “Such similarities as there are, when placed in context, in my view lack significance in relation to the allegation of copying from 'Oh Why'.
“They are commonplace forms of expression, both in terms of use by other writers and by Mr Sheeran himself.
“My view is therefore that it is objectively unlikely that any similarities result from copying.”
Mr Sheeran has argued in his written evidence that his song’s Oh I phrase uses “a basic minor pentatonic pattern” which is “entirely commonplace”.
In his report Mr Ricigliano paraphrased a quote from composer Leonard Bernstein, writing: “The pentatonic scale is humanity’s favourite scale and is so well known that one can find examples of it from all corners of the Earth.”
In court, Andrew Sutcliffe QC, representing Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue, asked the expert: “You accept don’t you Mr Ricigliano that despite all your research you have not found any examples in any corner of the earth over the past 200 years which sound phonetically the same as the chorus in 'Oh Why' and the post-chorus in 'Shape Of You'.”
“That’s correct,” Mr Ricigliano said.
“Do you not find this extraordinary?” Mr Sutcliffe asked, with the expert replying: “No”.
The barrister described the two song phrases as appearing “within months of each other” and suggested they sound “almost the same”.
“I would disagree with the characterisation,” Mr Ricigliano said, adding that the two are “coincidentally similar” and there are “distinctive differences”.
The music expert said that from his analysis of Mr Sheeran’s work there was “nothing in there that he did which doesn’t reflect back on what he had done before”, adding that his conclusion was that “this was written by him and his associates”.
Another music expert, Christian Siddell, who was instructed by Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue’s lawyers, is due to give evidence on Wednesday afternoon.
The three 'Shape Of You' co-authors – Mr Sheeran, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon – launched legal proceedings in May 2018, asking the High Court to declare they had not infringed Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue’s copyright.
In July 2018, Mr Chokri and Mr O’Donoghue issued their own claim for “copyright infringement, damages and an account of profits in relation to the alleged infringement”.
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