Australian Songwriters Settle Copyright Suit with Ed Sheeran, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw
The Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that two Australian songwriters, Sean Carey and Beau Golden, have settled a copyright lawsuit against Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
According to Reuters, the $5 million suit was based on the song “The Rest of Our Life”, which Sheeran helped write for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Carey and Golden allege that the song is an “almost note for note copy” of the song “When I Found You” which was co-written by them for Australian country singer Jasmine Rae (a fellow co-writer). “The Rest of Our Life” was released about two years after the release of “When I Found You”. Rae opted not to bring an action against Sheeran or anyone else in the matter.
According to the Independent, a UK publication, Carey and Golden are represented by the same lawyer who represented Marvin Gaye’s family in their successful claim that “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams too closely resembled Mr. Gaye’s song “Got to Give It Up”. Thicke and Williams were ordered to pay millions. This same lawyer was also involved in the $20 million settled suit against Sheeran for his song “Photograph”.
The settlement amount agreed to by Sheeran and the other parties has not been disclosed.
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