Ed Sheeran was found not guilty of claims that “Thinking Out Loud” infringed upon Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit, “Let’s Get It On”. Image source: Drew de F Fawkes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A Manhattan jury has found Ed Sheeran not guilty of copyright infringement claims regarding similarities between his song “Thinking Out Loud” Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit, “Let’s Get It On”.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2017 by the heirs and estate holders of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get it On” with Gaye.
The plaintiffs alleged that Sheeran, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Publishing were in violation of federal copyright law, stating that Sheeran’s 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud” featured “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” to Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On”.
The songs share a similar chord progression and tempo, but the question remained as whether or not the song’s melody was distinct enough to be deemed original.
Sheeran denied the claims of infringement, testifying that he wrote “Thinking Out Loud” independently with his spouse and co-writer Amy Wage, who was not named in the lawsuit.
He went on to say that the chord progression used in both songs are a “common progression” that was not unique to either song.
Plaintiff attorney Ben Crump pointed to concert footage of Sheeran performing the two songs together in a mashup, which he claimed was “smoking gun” proof of Sheeran’s copyright infringement.
When asked about the trial this past Monday, Sheeran expressed his frustration at the case, deeming it “insulting”, and threatened to quit music altogether if he was found guilty.
“If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping,” said Sheeran on the stand Monday.
Jurors reached a unanimous verdict following three hours of deliberations, deciding in favour of Sheeran.
It was ruled that Sheeran and Wage created the song independently and were not liable for copyright infringement.
Sheeran expressed both his relief at the verdict and his frustration that the trial had gone ahead.
“I am obviously very happy with the outcome of the case,” Sheeran said to The New York Times. “At the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.”
In 2017, music encyclopaedia site Genius released a video comparing the tracks.
You can view the video comparison on YouTube.
