Ed Sheeran has won a High Court copyright battle over his 2017 hit Shape of You. He was accused of plagiarising the 2015 song Oh Why by Sami Chokri. A judge ruled this was not the case.
Roy and Tom discuss this news story and teach you some related vocabulary so you can talk about it too.
Video chapters:
0:00 – Introduction
0:28 – Story
1:31 – Headline 1: Ed Sheeran wins Shape of You copyright case and hits out at ‘baseless’ claims
4:20 – Headline 2: Ed Sheeran releases statement following Shape Of You copyright lawsuit after judge rules he did not rip off Sami Chokri
7:57 – Headline 3: Ed Sheeran says he now regrets settling £14m ‘Photograph’ lawsuit in wake of ‘Shape of You’ trial win
10:23 – Language summary
Key words and phrases:
baseless
without evidence or facts
- The rumour that the boss didn’t have a degree turned out to be baseless.
- Isabella made a baseless claim that she was unfairly dismissed from her job
rip off
copy or plagiarise something
- He accused the other student of ripping off his essay.
- I can’t believe how expensive this city is. Everything is a rip-off!
in the wake of
after or because of something
- In the wake of the allegations, the CEO decided to resign.
- In the wake of the financial report, the company’s share value dropped.
To download the audio and a transcript and test your understanding, go to our website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/newsreview-2022/unit-1/session-14