Jury finds Ed Sheeran did not plagiarize ‘Thinking Out Loud’

First modification: 05/05/2023 – 00:44

The British musician Ed Sheeran won the case in which he was accused of plagiarism of the song ‘Thinking Out Loud’, the hit of his career that was released in 2014.

According to the jury, Ed Townsend’s estate failed to prove that the pop star had illegally copied Marvin Gaye’s classic 1973 song “Let’s Get It On.”

Sheeran told the press: “Obviously I am very happy with this decision and it seems that I do not have to leave my professional activity after all. However, I am incredibly frustrated that unsubstantiated complaints like this can reach the courts, “he added. that the court’s decision would help protect the creative process of songwriters in the US and around the world and that it was “devastating to be accused of stealing someone else’s song when we have put so much work into our livelihood ”.

“I’m just a guy with a guitar who loves to write music for people to enjoy. I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake,” Sheeran said after the verdict.

A jury in a federal court in Manhattan in New York, United States, decided that Sheeran, his record label Warner Music Group and his music publisher Sony Music Publishing could not be found to have infringed copyright law.

The decision came after six days of trial and less than three hours of deliberations.

Sheeran accused of copying the “heart” of the song

According to the estate, Sheeran had copied the “heart” of Gaye’s song, including its melody, harmony, and rhythm. Lawyers for the pop singer argued that the similarities in the songs are part of basic musical “building blocks” that cannot be protected by copyright.

Sheeran during the trial denied the claims of copyright infringement, telling the jury: “I find it really insulting to spend my whole life being a performer and songwriter and have someone diminish it.”

While on stage, the singer-songwriter picked up his guitar and played the chord progression to ‘Thinking Out Loud’ before singing the opening words “When your legs don’t work like they used to”. Sheeran said that her friend Amy Wadge first played the opening chords when she was visiting her home in the UK and that they later collaborated on the lyrics.

Ben Crump, one of the lawyers representing the estate, told the jury that Sheeran confessed to copying Gaye’s song when he performed it live at a concert. The singer refuted these claims, saying that singers frequently remix other songs and that he had also remixed Van Morrison’s ‘Crazy Love’ and Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’.

One of the jurors, Sophia Neis, told reporters there was “a lot of back and forth” in the jury room before they made their decision.

Singer Marvin Gaye, who died in 1984, had collaborated with Townsend to write “Let’s Get It On,” which topped the Billboard charts. Sheeran’s song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015.

Sheeran has yet to face two other lawsuits brought by investment banker and ‘Bowie Bonds’ creator David Pullman’s Structured Asset Sales LLC, which also owns copyright interests in Gaye’s song.

Sheeran had already won a lawsuit in London over the copyright to his hit ‘Shape of You’.

Gaye’s estate won a lawsuit in Los Angeles over claims that the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song “Blurred Lines” copied Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”

With Reuters and AP