Ed Sheeran has addressed his recent court victory after suing him for copyright infringement over his 2017 hit "Shape of You."
Sheeran and the song's co-writers – Snow Patrol's John McDaid and producer Steven McCutchon – denied the lawsuit's claims that they had performed part of the 2015 song "Oh Why" by Sami Chokri (who performs under the name Sami Switch). was part of.
Speaking with BBC Two's "Newsnight", Sheeran said that once he was accused of ripping another song, he felt compelled to defend his artistic integrity.
Appearing with McDaid, Sheeran stated that "there was no choice but to sue".
“You can get a judgment or you can have a compromise and [when] you know you are right, you can’t just out of principle. You can’t compromise,” he explained.
"Our royalties were frozen and we were given two options and we chose the one that was integral to us," Sheeran said.
"In the last year, it got really heavy and it was consuming," McDaid said. "The cost to our mental health and creativity was really tangible."
For Sheeran, victory has come at a high price, and he admits that the enthusiasm he felt had been changed by songwriting.
"There's the George Harrison point where he said he's afraid to touch the piano because he might touch someone else's note. The studio definitely has a sense of it," Sheeran said, similarly to Harrison in the 1970s. Citing his hit with the U.S. lawsuit, he claimed that he omitted his hit "My Sweet Lord" from Chiffon's "Hey So Fine".
Sheeran said, "I personally think the best feeling in the world is the excitement surrounding the very first thought of writing a great song." "That feeling has now turned to, 'Oh wait, stand back for a minute.' You find yourself in the moment, second guessing."
Ultimately, both Sheeran and McDaid admitted they were relieved that the years-long litigation was now over.
"I'm glad it's over. I'm glad we can go ahead and start writing songs," Sheeran said.