Ed Sheeran has won his copyright case over his hit 'Shape of You'

Ed Sheeran has won a UK copyright battle over his 2017 hit 'Shape of You.'

The British singer-songwriter and his co-writers, Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, were taken to court by grime artist Sami Chokri, who claimed that the melody of the song is "strikingly similar" to that of his 2015 track 'Oh Why.'

The 'Perfect' hitmaker had denied the allegations and said he did not remember hearing 'Oh Why' before the court case.

And now a judge has ruled that Sheeran and his collaborators had not plagiarised the earlier hit.

Judge Antony Zacaroli acknowledged there were "similarities between the one-bar phrase" in 'Shape of You' and 'Oh Why,' but said "such similarities are only a starting point for a possible infringement" of copyright.

After studying the musical elements, he found there were " differences between the relevant parts" of the songs, which "provide compelling evidence that the 'Oh I' phrase" in Ed's song "originated from sources other than Oh Why", and so declared the 31-year-old had "neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied" the track.

After the verdict was delivered, Sheeran, McDaid and McCutcheon said they were "grateful" for the ruling but admitted having to prove themselves and their integrity had been "painful".

"We respect the music of those who’ve come before us and have inspired us along the way, whoever they are," they said in a joint statement.

"It is so painful to hear someone publicly, and aggressively, challenge your integrity.

"It is so painful to have to defend yourself against accusations that you have done something that you haven’t done and would never do.

"We are very grateful for all the messages of love, hope and support we received throughout the course of this case from songwriters everywhere. Thank you also to our publishers, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us at every step of the way."

'Shape of You' was the biggest-selling song in the UK in 2017.