Could Ed Sheeran be the next artist to pay up?

2015-billboard-music-awards-arrivals
2015-billboard-music-awards-arrivals

Ed Sheeran is being sued for $20 million by two songwriters that claim he ripped off their song for “Photograph.”

In the suit filed in federal court on Wednesday, Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard say Sheeran’s “Photograph” does some “note-for-note copying” of their song “Amazing,” which was recorded and released as a single in England by Matt Cardle, the winner of the 2010 season The X Factor. The suit says, “The songs’ similarities reach the very essence of the work. The similarities go beyond substantial, which is itself sufficient to establish copyright infringement, and are in fact striking.”

Billboard reports that the songwriters are represented by attorney Richard Busch, who filed the the suit on behalf of the Marvin Gaye family over “Blurred Lines.”

Here is a clip of “Photograoh” by Ed Sheeran followed by “Amazing” from Matt Cardle.