'The Rest of Our Life' was co-written by the English singer but allegedly copies the Australian hit 'When I Found You' and now the song's writers are suing for $5m (3.7m) in damages.
A song that was co-written by Ed Sheeran has become the subject of a $5m (£3.7m) lawsuit from two songwriters who claim that their own composition has been plagiarised.
'The Rest of our Life' was a hit last year for country singer Tim McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill, but Australian duo Sean Carey and Beau Golden claim that the song 'blatantly copied' their 2014 song 'When I Found You'.
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The suit that was filed on Wednesday names McGraw, Hill, Sheeran, and Sheeran's writing team of Johnny McDaid, Amy Wadge, and Steve Mac.
The two claimants want $5m (£3.7m) in damages, their share of the royalties, and an injunction blocking the use of the song permanently.
They claim: "The copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying of original elements of the Song, and is obvious to the ordinary observer."
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The pair's lawyer Richard Busch has had previous legal battles with Sheeran, having sued him for $20m (£15m) over his song 'Photograph'. Sheeran settled out of court and the Nashville, Tennessee lawyer won royalties and a songwriting credit for his client.
Busch also famously won a case for the family of Marvin Gaye against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for the song 'Blurred Lines'.
Gaye's family took home $7.4m (£5.5m) from the controversial case that found that the song was too similar to Gaye's 1977 hit 'Got to Give It Up'.
'When I Found You' became popular in Australia after it was recorded by Jasmine Rae, who has a co-writing credit on the song and whose boyfriend Tom Holland works in the marketing department of the record company Sony.
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Files from the case revealed by the Hollywood Reporter claim that Holland knew about the plagiarism before the case was brought, stating:
"Mr. Holland admitted to knowing about the Infringing Song months in advance of its release because he was tasked with promoting and marketing the Infringing Song and Infringing Sound Recording before its release.
"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."
This new copyright row comes shortly after Lana Del Rey alleged that Radiohead had filed a lawsuit against her for perceived similarities between her song 'Get Free' and Radiohead's 'Creep' - a claim the band deny.
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The English band already gives credit and a share of the song's royalties to the writers of The Hollies' 1972 hit 'The Air That I Breathe'.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Music, UK Entertainment, US Entertainment, Ed Sheeran