Aussie songwriters settle Ed Sheeran copyright lawsuit

A pair of Aussie songwriters have settled a copyright case against Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.

Earlier this year, it was announced that ex-Thirsty Merc guitarist Sean Carey and keyboardist-producer Beau Golden had launched a lawsuit in a US court against some of the industry's heavyweights, accusing them of copyright infringement.

The lawsuit claimed that Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's 2017 track 'The Rest Of Our Life' – which had been co-written by Ed Sheeran – heavily copied Australian musician Jasmine Rae’s ‘When I Found You’, which was written by Carey and Golden in 2014.

While the complaint called the track a "blatant" rip-off, it explained that "the copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying of original elements of the song, and is obvious to the ordinary observer."

Although Sean Carey and Beau Golden had been seeking at least US$5 million in damages, Reuters notes that the case has now been settled.

A lawyer for the Australian songwriters revealed that the parties involved have agreed "in principle" to settle the case, noting that it would be dismissed within a month if all “final issues” are resolved.

No other details have been released about the decision yet, with lawyers for both parties not releasing any comment at this stage.

Check out Jasmine Rae's 'When I Found You':