Grammy Award-winning singer Ed Sheeran was awarded a copyright dispute in the U.K. for his hit 2017 “Shape of You”. He then attacked what he called a “culture of baseless lawsuits” that aims to extract money from artists who want to skip trial costs.

The British pop star and his co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, had denied allegations that the song copied part of 2015′s “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch.

Sheerhan stated in a Twitter video, “Whilst we are obviously pleased with the outcome, I feel like claims such as this have become way too common now. They are made with the notion that a settlement would be cheaper than going to court even though there isn’t any basis for the claim.” It’s very damaging for the songwriting profession.

Andrew Sutcliffe, the lawyer for the co-writers of “Oh Why,″ argued that there was an “indisputable similarity between the works.” According to him, Sheeran knew “Oh Why” “consciously and unconsciously” before “Shape of You” was published in 2016.

According to plaintiffs, the refrain in “Shape Of you” titled “Oh, I, Oh, I, Oh” was “strikingly like” the one in their track “Oh why. Oh why. Oh why. Oh why.”

Sheeran denied that he borrowed ideas from unknown songwriters, and stated that he always credits people who have contributed to the albums.

In Wednesday’s ruling, High Court Judge Antony Zacaroli concluded that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a phrase from “Oh Why″ when writing his smash hit.

McDaid, Sheeran, and Mac all stated that this case cost more than just financial. They stated that the stress from going on trial can also affect creativity. It results in less time for music making and emotional distress.

“It is so painful to hear someone publicly and aggressively challenge your integrity,″ the trio said. “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.″

2017 was the year of “Shape of You”.