3 Count: Real World Ed Sheeran

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1: Ed Sheeran Now Films “Every Single Writing Session” to Prevent Future Copyright Cases

First off today, Elizabeth Aubrey at NME reports that Ed Sheeran, fresh off his victory in the Shape of You trial, has said that, in a bid to head off any further copyright infringement lawsuits, he has taken to recording all his songwriting sessions.

Sheeran was sued by Sami Chokri who alleged that Sheeran’s hit song Shape of You was an infringement of Chokri’s song Oh Why. Sheeran denied all allegations, including ever having heard of the song. The judge in the case sided with Sheeran, ruling that he did not infringe and that Chokri did not prove Sheeran had access to his work.

However, in an interview with BBC2’s Newsnight, Sheeran said that ever since an earlier settlement over his song Photograph, he now videotapes all his songwriting sessions. Sheeran also expressed regret for settling the Photograph case, saying that it opened up the floodgates of litigation against him.

2: Joan Cornellà Project Apologizes over NFT’s Likeness with Hong Kong’s ‘King of Comedy’ Stephen Chow

Next up today, Xinmei Shen at the South China Morning Post reports that a Hong Kong-based group has cancelled the minting of a planned NFT after a Chinese comedian accused them of misusing his likeness.

The group Fwenclub announced a new group of some 5,555 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that that were designed by Spanish artist Joan Cornellà. However, one of the images resembled a character played by local comedian Stephen Chow Sing-chi in the 1994 movie From Beijing with Love. Chow objected to the inclusion and asked for it to instead be turned into a gift for him.

The group has since apologized and said that they will not be minting that particular image. However, it appears that the rest of the release is moving ahead as planned.

3: Santa Ana Police Try Skirting Public Accountability Using Copyright Infringement

Finally today, Brandon Pho at the Voice of OC reports that Santa Ana police recently used popular Disney songs in a bid to make it more difficult for those videotaping them to upload the content online.

The incident happened near the home of Santa Ana City Councilmember Jonathan Hernandez, who confronted police working in his neighborhood about why they were playing Disney music. An officer on the scene acknowledged that it was to hinder the efforts of a person videoing them.

However, the move apparently didn’t work. In addition to drawing attention from the city council, the video itself was successfully uploaded and is available on YouTube. However, that hasn’t stopped police officers from attempting the trick, including both Beverly Hills and Alameda County locally. The police department has refused to comment directly on the use of music to thwart recording.

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