Pop singer Ed Sheeran has officially won the copyright trial brought against him by heirs of the Marvin Gaye ‘Let’s Get It On’ songwriter, Ed Townsend.
The singer was accused of copying the melody, harmony, and rhythm of the 1973 classic with his 2014 hit, ‘Thinking out Loud’.
Townsend’s heirs were seeking a portion of the profits earned from ‘Thinking Out Loud’. They also revealed in a court filing that they received 22 per cent of Townsend’s share of the profit from Gaye’s song.
However after six days of trial, and three hours of deliberations, the Manhattan jury determined that Sheeran did not plagiarise the song.
Sheeran hugged his attorney upon hearing the verdict. Then, outside the Manhattan court, he delivered a passionate victory speech to onlooking supporters and press.
“I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all” he began.
“We’ve spent the last eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies, and chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day, all over the world,” he continued.
“These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before ‘Let’s Get It On’ was written, and will be used to make users long after we are gone. They are in the songwriter’s alphabet, our toolkit, and should be there for everyone to use. No one owns them, or the way they are played, in the same way that nobody owns the colour blue.”
Sheeran had previously revealed that he was forced to miss his grandmother’s funeral, which took place in Ireland earlier in the week, due to the court case.
Sheeran’s father, John, delivered the eulogy at the service, in which he said, “I am very sad that our son Edward is unable to be here today. He’s so upset that he cannot be present – he has to be thousands of miles away in a court in America defending his integrity.”
“I know he is comforted by the fact that he was able to spend some precious time alone with his grandma just a month ago.”
Two similar lawsuits are currently also pending against Sheeran, brought by another party with copyright interests in the Gaye song. It is unclear if the recent ruling will impact these going to trial.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
