Matt Cardle praises Ed Sheeran as the A Team singer is sued for £13.8m for ‘copying his hit’
FORMER X Factor winner distances himself, saying ' it's not my lawsuit'
MUSICIAN Matt Cardle has responded to reports about legal action being taken against Ed Sheeran for allegedly copying one of his songs and insists it is not his battle.
Taking to Twitter, Matt, who originally shot to fame after winning the 2010 series of The X Factor, was quick to set the record straight.
He told his 886k followers: “Please read news articles closely. This is not my lawsuit.
“I think @edsheeran is a genius & 100% deserves all his success.”
The 33-year-old signed off with praying hands and a heart emoji, plus, a kiss.
Songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, who were behind Matt’s 2011 track Amazing, claim that Ed’s 2014 song Photograph is a “note-by-note copy”.
They’ve hired Richard Busch the lawyer who represented Marvin Gaye’s family in a lawsuit against Pharrell and Robin Thicke.
They were accused of ripping off one of the soul legend’s tracks for Blurred Lines, and eventually had to pay $7million (£4.8 million) in damages last March.
Taken from Ed’s mega-selling second album Multiply, it has enjoyed a second lease of life after being used as the soundtrack for new romantic drama Me Before You.
Court documents reveal that Harrington, Leonard and Halo Songs are taking action against Ed and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid, who co-wrote Photograph.
They’re accused of “participating in a scheme aiding, inducing, and contributing to copyright infringement in the U.S.”
“[Photograph and other album tracks] copied, and exploited, without authorization or credit, the work of other active, professional songwriters, on a breathtaking scale, unabashedly taking credit for the work of these songwriters by claiming it to be their own.”
The documents reveal that the plaintiffs believe that 39 notes in the chorus share “pitch, rhythmic duration, and placement in the measure.
“[There is also] similarity of words, vocal style, vocal melody, melody, and rhythm are clear indicators, among other things, that Photograph copies Amazing.”
It’s no surprise that people didn’t think Photograph sounded familiar when it was released two years ago – when Matt released Amazing it limped in at No. 84 in the charts.
On YouTube, Ed’s track has had over 200 million views, while Matt’s a smaller – but respectable 1.1 million.
Listen to the two tracks at the heart of the lawsuit
Ed Sheeran - Photograph .
Matt Cardle - Amazing