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Ed Sheeran says his recent High Court copyright case over one of his songs was not about money but honesty and standing up for what was right, the BBC reports.

The singer-songwriter told BBC Two's Newsnight he did not have a choice but to defend his work in court.

To protect against future claims, Sheeran said he now films all of his songwriting sessions.

A judge ruled on Wednesday that Sheeran had not plagiarised the song Oh Why by Sami Chokri.

In their first interview following the verdict, Sheeran and his co-writer, Snow Patrol's John McDaid, told Newsnight of the "extraordinary strain" the case had exerted on them.

Describing the court case as long and unpleasant for all involved, Sheeran said "there was no other choice" but to fight the claim.

"You can get a judgement or you can have a settlement and [when] you know that you're in the right, then you can't settle just out of principle. You can't settle.

"Our royalties were frozen and we were given two options and we chose the option that was integral to us."

This is not Sheeran's first time in court for a copyright dispute.

In 2017, the 31-year-old settled a $20m copyright infringement case for his song Photograph, something he told Newsnight he now regrets doing.