A US jury has cleared Ed Sheeran of allegations that one of his hit songs copied a classic tune by Marvin Gaye.
The heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who wrote the 1973 classic "Let's Get It On", had claimed the British singer had stolen key parts of it for his hit song "Thinking Out Loud".
But a jury in a New York court decided Sheeran did not infringe copyright.
Sheeran (32) was called to testify in the civil trial by the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer on the 1973 soul classic.
The family had accused the English star of violating their copyright, claiming his 2014 hit bore “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” to the famed Gaye track.
The trial
Sheeran was adamant that he had come up with the song himself, sparring at times with the plaintiff’s attorney, Keisha Rice, on the subject of “independent creation”.
In response to a video played in the courtroom, which showed the musician segueing on stage between the two songs, Sheeran noted it was very common for musicians to weave other artists’ songs into their live shows.
The chord progression and basic building blocks in Sheeran’s song are frequently used, and did not appear first in Let’s Get It On, his lawyer said.
Let’s Get It On has been heard in countless films and commercials and garnered hundreds of millions of streams, spins and radio plays since it came out in 1973. Thinking Out Loud won a Grammy for song of the year in 2016.
The lawsuit was filed in 2017.
Support
Sheeran had been getting encouragement during his copyright trial from other performers who also worry that they will be sued.
He said he has heard from other singers since the trial began because they share his worries about litigation resulting from their songwriting.
He did not identify any of them but said they were cheering him on – grateful that he is standing up against what all songwriters view as a threat to their work.
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