Ed Sheeran settled a $20million lawsuit over his song Photograph

Ed Sheeran was accused of copying Matt Cardle’s 2012 track Amazing ‘not for note’ by songwriters Thomas Leonard and Martin Harrington.

An order filed on Monday and signed by Judge James Selna at a California court stated that the case has now been dismissed after an agreement between Ed and the songwriters was reached. No further details of the arrangement have been released.

It was emerged in June 2016 that Ed was being sued for £16million, accused with’copyright infringement’ of his over his 2015 track Photograph.

And songwriters Leonard and Harrington filed the lawsuit alleging Sheeran’s track copies Amazing, a song they wrote for X Factor winner Matt Cardle.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit claims Photograph is ‘too similar to both the composition written by Harrington and Leonard as well as the version recorded by Cardle’.

‘The similarities go beyond substantial, which is itself sufficient to establish copyright infringement, and are in fact striking,’ the complaint reads. The similarity of words, vocal style, vocal melody, melody, and rhythm are clear indicators, among other things, that Photograph copies Amazing.’

A further complaint filed in the US, they said of Sheeran and his co-writer, Johnny McDaid of Snow Patrol: ‘This copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying, makes up nearly one half of Photograph, and raises this case to the unusual level of strikingly similar copying,’ they said in a complaint lodged in the US in July.

They had added how they had, ‘copied and exploited, without authorisation or credit, the work of other active, professional songwriters on a breathtaking scale.’

Harrington and Leonard were seeking statutory damages, as well as either an injunction or a running royalty.

Back in February 2016, before the lawsuit was filed, a video putting the two songs side by side was posted on YouTube.

When the lawsuit was filed, Matt responded on Twitter by insisting it had nothing to do with him.

Please read news articles closely. This is not my lawsuit. I think @edsheeran is a genius & 100% deserves all his success  X

— Matt Cardle (@MattCardle) June 9, 2016

Months later, Ed described the lawsuit as ‘scandalous’ in a statement from Sony Music, Warner and Ed reading: ‘Defying the most fundamental pleading requirement of providing short, concise and plain statements, the First Amended Complaint consists of 44 sprawling pages of prolix, repetitive, argumentative and scandalous allegations, made mostly on ‘information and belief’.

Photograph reached number 15 in the UK singles chart and number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2014. Amazing hit number 84 in the UK singles chart in 2012.

The songwriters are represented by Richard Busch, whose last major lawsuit was on behalf of the Marvin Gaye family who had claimed Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ track Blurred Lines was similar to Gaye’s hit Got To Give It Up.