You Be The Judge: Did Ed Sheeran Rip “Photograph” From This Song?

Say it ain't so, Ed. Ed Sheeran is being sued to the tune of $20 million by two established songwriters, as Billboard reports. The suit claims that Sheeran's song "Photograph" outright copies parts of X Factor winner Matt Cardle's song "Amazing," which the plaintiffs penned. Songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard have also written songs for the likes of Kylie Minogue and Spice Girl Emma Bunton. The pair is being represented by attorney Richard Busch, who also led the legal battle on behalf of Marvin Gaye's family in their winning case over "Blurred Lines." The suit claims that Sheeran's song exemplifies "verbatim, note-for-note copying." But just how close are the two songs? Well, judge for yourself. Here's Cardle's "Amazing" — we'd recommend cuing it up around 90 seconds in...

Okay, have the chorus stuck in your head? Now listen to Sheeran's song.

If you felt a little bit of déjà vu, you're definitely not alone on this one. I messaged a musician friend about the similarities between the two: He pointed out that both the rhythm and the vocal phrasings are damn near identical. He also said that the intervals — i.e. the distance between the notes — sound close to the same. Put another way: I'm not an expert, but it does seem something fishy is going on here.