Australian composers settle suit with Ed Sheeran

Australian songwriters Sean Carey and Beau Golden have reached a settlement with Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in their copyright lawsuit.

British singer Ed Sheeran is being sued by Sean Carey and Beau Golden over the alleged theft of song lyrics.

British singer Ed Sheeran is being sued by Sean Carey and Beau Golden over the alleged theft of song lyrics. Source: Press Association

Two Australian songwriters have settled a copyright lawsuit against singers Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

In their suit, Sean Carey and Beau Golden claimed the song The Rest of Our Life was a "blatant" rip-off of their song When I Found You.

A lawyer for the songwriters said all parties have agreed in principle to settle the case, and have it dismissed in 30 days if all "final issues" are resolved.

The settlement was disclosed in a letter filed on Thursday night with the US District Court in Manhattan.

Sheeran, the English singer and songwriter, had co-written The Rest of Our Life for McGraw and Hill, the married US country music stars.

The song was released in 2017, two years after When I Found You, which was co-written and performed by Australian country star Jasmine Rae.

Sony Music Entertainment, which released The Rest of Our Life through its Arista Nashville label, and Sheeran's publisher Sony/ATV Songs were among several other defendants.

The lawsuit sought more than $US5 million ($A6.9 million) in damages.

Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond on Friday to requests for comment. The plaintiffs' lawyer did not immediately respond to similar requests.

Sheeran has faced multiple copyright lawsuits, including over his songs Thinking Out Loud, Shape of You and Photograph.

Carey and Golden had contended that The Rest of Our Life was "almost a note for note copy" of When I Found You.

They sued in January, one month after Rae told them a fan had tweeted her asking if she had heard McGraw's and Hill's song because it sounded "remarkably like" her own.

Rae was open to pursuing songwriting royalties but did not want to sue the couple or Sony, and was not a plaintiff, according to the complaint.


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2 min read
Published 10 November 2018 6:42am
Updated 10 November 2018 7:40am


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