Ed Sheeran has been awarded more than £900,000 in legal fees following the win of his ‘Shape of You’ lawsuit. Sam Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch and his co-writer Ross O’Donoghue have been ordered to pay the costs to Sheeran and his co-writers.
High Court Judge Anthony Zacaroli decided that Sheeran’s conduct was not such that he should be deprived of his right to recover the costs of litigation.
The case was won earlier this year over a dispute regarding plagiarism of part of Sam Chokri’s track ‘Oh Why.’ In April, after a High Court trial, the judge ruled that Sheeran had “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” ripped off the hook to create ‘Shape of You.’
In the latest ruling, Zacaroli has said that Chokri and O’Donoghue should pay the legal costs for the case, which amount to £916,200. The amount is expected to be assessed and finalised in a further hearing.
However, after Sheeran won the case, lawyers for Chokri and O’Donoghue argued that Sheeran and the other claimants should pay their own legal costs due to them failing to provide documents and displayed “awkwardness and opacity.”
However, the High Court Judge said he considers it appropriate that the claimants’ success is reflected in the order and that their costs are paid by the defendants. He also dismissed arguments that Chokri and O’Donoghue would have changed their approach to the chase if some documents and explanations had been provided earlier.
