AceShowbiz -

Ed Sheeran has settled a $20 million copyright lawsuit over song writing credits for his 2014 hit song "Photograph". Songwriters Thomas Leonard and Martin Harrington sued the "Shape of You" hitmaker last June, claiming his hit ballad had a similar structure to their song, "Amazing".

Richard Busch, lawyer for Thomas and Martin tells BBC News that the legal dispute had been settled. On Friday, April 7, court papers were lodged dismissing the case "with prejudice", stipulating that a California federal court would enforce the terms of an agreement.

Richard refuses to comment on the settlement terms. A representative for Ed's record company, Atlantic Records, also won't comment on stories relating to copyright issues.

Thomas and Martin previously claimed that "Photograph" was "copied, and exploited, without authorization or credit, the work of other active, professional songwriters, on a breathtaking scale, unabashedly taking credit for the work of these songwriters by claiming it to be their own."

"This copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying, makes up nearly one half of Photograph, and raises the case to the unusual level of strikingly similar copying," the pair wrote in legal papers filed last summer. They also took issue with 39 notes in the chorus that shared "pitch, rhythmic duration, and placement in the measure."

There was also, according to the suit, "a similarity of words, vocal style, vocal melody, melody, and rhythm are clear indicators, among other things, that 'Photograph' copies 'Amazing'."