The Guardian…
Industry figures warn that songwriters face future drawn out legal battles because the way in which people consume music has changed
Songwriters such as Ed Sheeran face a future of drawn out legal battles because the way in which people consume music has changed so much in the past half a century, a leading legal expert has warned, as she urged courts to reconsider how they interpret copyright law.
The rise of streaming on platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, combined with larger teams of writers behind hit songs, have led to a surge in high-profile copyright infringement cases in the past few years. Most recently, Sheeran is locked in an ongoing legal battle over Shape of You, Spotify’s most streamed song ever.
Hayleigh Bosher, associate dean of intellectual property law at Brunel University, who researches the music industry, said “the law needs to move with the times” as “making music is so different to how it was 50 years ago”.
She added: If Sheeran loses, I imagine we will see even more cases. I don’t think copyright is doing its job properly if songwriters are afraid, that’s stifling creativity.”
