Co-writers Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill have been hit with a lawsuit that claims their hit "The Rest of Our Life" was copied from another song.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sean Carey and Beau Golden filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The suit claims that "The Rest of Our Life" was copied from the song "When I Found You." That track was released in 2014 by Jasmine Rae and became a big hit in Australia.
Aside from the trademark piano riff, the melody, lyrical structure and production are very similar. The lawsuit states 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."
Rae was informed of the songs' similarities after a tweet from a fan caught her attention. She brought the issue up to Carey and Golden, who wrote "When I Found You," as well as her boyfriend, Tim Holland, who works as a marketing manager for Sony. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are currently signed to Sony, and Holland admitted that he already knew about the songs' striking similarities.
"When questioned by Plaintiffs as to his silence about the similarities between 'When I Found You' and the Infringing Song/Infringing Sound Recording, Mr. Holland stated he did not want to lose his job with Sony Music. ... When pressed further by Plaintiffs, Mr. Holland indicated that he had known that the songs were substantially similar for more than two months prior to the Oct. 5, 2017 release date of the Infringing Song/Infringing Sound Recording."
The lawsuit goes on to allege that Holland presented "When I Found You" to Sony Music in order to "in an effort to gain exposure for Ms. Rae and promote her work." The suit says that aside from the song getting exposure from Sony by Holland, Ed Sheeran could have heard the song while touring in Australia.
Carey and Golden are seeking $5 million in damages as well as profits, royalty costs and a repayment of all attorney's fees and costs.
You can listen to and compare the two songs for yourself below.
