Artists across all genres can find their work under scrutiny, and sometimes this can mean big payouts—as was the case when Marvin Gaye’s family sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over “Blurred Lines,” eventually winning $5.3 million. The songwriters behind X-Factor winner Matt Cardle’s song “Amazing” say Ed Sheeran copied “Photograph.” They’re suing for $20 million. And as fate would have it, the attorney representing the songwriters is Richard Busch, who represented Gaye’s family in the their victorious “Blurred Lines” case.In addition to the $20 million, the lawsuit—which comes from songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard and HaloSongs, Inc.—calls for statutory damages and a permanent injunction, which would prevent “the reproduction, distribution, sale, public performance, or other use or exploitation” of “Photograph.” According to the lawsuit, “the songs’ similarities reach the very essence of the work”
And they say they’ve got the evidence to prove it:
The chorus sections of “Amazing” and the infringing “Photograph” share 39 identical notes—meaning the notes are identical in pitch, rhythmic duration, and placement in the measure.