Aussie songwriters settle Ed Sheeran copyright lawsuit
The songwriters were seeking at least US$5 million in damages.
A pair of Aussie songwriters have settled a copyright case against Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.
Earlier this year, it was announced that ex-Thirsty Merc guitarist Sean Carey and keyboardist-producer Beau Golden had launched a lawsuit in a US court against some of the industry's heavyweights, accusing them of copyright infringement.
The lawsuit claimed that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's 2017 track 'The Rest Of Our Life' – which had been co-written by Ed Sheeran – heavily copied Australian musician Jasmine Rae’s ‘When I Found You’, which was written by Carey and Golden in 2014.
While the complaint called the track a "blatant" rip-off, it explained that "the copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying of original elements of the song, and is obvious to the ordinary observer."
Although Sean Carey and Beau Golden had been seeking at least US$5 million in damages, Reuters notes that the case has now been settled.
Reporting from inside the Australian music business since '94.
A lawyer for the Australian songwriters revealed that the parties involved have agreed "in principle" to settle the case, noting that it would be dismissed within a month if all “final issues” are resolved.
No other details have been released about the decision yet, with lawyers for both parties not releasing any comment at this stage.
