Ed Sheeran says Shape of You copyright trial was 'deeply traumatising'

Ed Sheeran has found the Shape of You copyright trial to be "deeply traumatising".

The 31-year-old pop star has been taken to court by grime artist Sami Chokri who claims that the melody of the smash hit is "strikingly similar" to that of his 2015 song Oh Why and Ed and his team have been badly affected by the accusation and case, according to his lawyer.

Ian Mill QC told the High Court: "[The case] has been deeply traumatising [for Ed and his co-writers.] It is terribly, terribly unfortunate. This case should never have got to trial. My clients are entitled to be vindicated."

The Thinking Out Loud hitmaker - along with his co-writers producer Steven McCutcheon and Snow Patrol musician John McDaid - have all denied the claims and assert that they do not remember hearing the track Oh Why before penning the multi-million selling single.

In written argument obtained by Metro.co.uk, Mill went on to slam the claims as "so strained as to be logically unintelligible" and they have "no credible basis".

The documents read: "The contemporaneous documents and evidence overwhelmingly support a case of independent creation. There is no credible basis upon which to suggest that Mr Sheeran had ever heard Oh Why in advance of writing Shape Of You."

The artist is reportedly "traumatised" by the ongoing copyright trial. Photo / Getty Images

It comes after forensic musicologist Anthony Ricigliano completed an analysis of the two songs and disputed the claims in High Court.

He said: "Such similarities as there are, when placed in context, in my view lack significance in relation to the allegation of copying from Oh Why. They are commonplace forms of expression, both in terms of use by other writers and by Mr. Sheeran himself. I would disagree with the characterisation. The two are coincidentally similar but there are distinctive differences."

Sheeran had royalties from Shape Of You blocked back in August 2019 due to the impending court case.

The trial is set to conclude today, with another music expert due to give evidence for Chokri and Mr Justice Zacaroli expected to make a judgment at a later date.