Key Points
- A US jury has found Ed Sheeran did not unlawfully copy Marvin Gaye's hit song Let's Get It On.
- The verdict came after six days of trial and less than three days of deliberation.
- Sheeran won a trial in London last year in a separate copyright case over his hit Shape of You.
Ed Sheeran's 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud did not unlawfully copy from Marvin Gaye's classic 1973 song Let's Get It On, a United States jury has decided in a closely watched copyright lawsuit.
The jury in Manhattan federal court determined that heirs of Let's Get It On songwriter Ed Townsend had not proven that Sheeran, his label Warner Music Group and his music publisher Sony Music Publishing had infringed their copyright interest in the Gaye song.
Ed Sheeran has won his copyright infringement case in New York, after being accused of copying Marvin Gaye's hit song Let's Get It On. Source: AAP / Justin Lane
Outside the courthouse, he said he was "very happy" with the outcome of the case.
“But at the same time I’m unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all,” he said.
"It's devastating to be accused of stealing someone else's song when we've put so much work into our livelihoods."
"I want to thank the jury for making the decision that will help protect the creative process for songwriters here in the United States and all around the world," the British pop star added.
The verdict came after six days of trial and less than three hours of deliberations.
Attorney Ben Crump is represented songwriter Ed Townsend's heirs in their copyright lawsuit against Ed Sheeran. Source: AAP / Seth Wenig
Sheeran's lawyers argued that any similarities between the songs involve basic musical "building blocks" that cannot be copyrighted.
Testifying during the trial, Sheeran denied the copyright infringement claims, telling the jury, "I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it."
Sheeran on the witness stand played the chord progression to Thinking Out Loud and sang the opening words: "When your legs don't work like they used to."
Sheeran testified that his friend and collaborator Amy Wadge first started strumming the chords for the song during a visit to his home in England, and that they collaborated on the lyrics.
Ben Crump, a lawyer representing the heirs, told jurors that Sheeran effectively confessed to ripping off Gaye's song when he performed it live in concert as a medley with Thinking Out Loud.
Sheeran testified that singers frequently perform such "mash-ups," and that he had on other occasions combined his song with Van Morrison's Crazy Love and Dolly Parton's I Will Always Love You.
Juror Sophia Neis, 23, told reporters afterward that there had been "a lot of back and forth" in the jury room before the panel made its decision.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin, daughter of singer and songwriter Ed Townsend, brought the copyright case to court and asked for a share of the profits from Thinking Out Loud. Source: AAP / John Minchillo
Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015.
The plaintiffs asked for a share of the profits from Thinking Out Loud.
The heirs said in a court filing that they received 22 per cent of the writer's share of Gaye's song from Townsend.
"I'm just a guy with a guitar who loves writing 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.
Two similar lawsuits are pending against Sheeran in Manhattan, brought by investment banker and "Bowie Bonds" creator David Pullman's Structured Asset Sales LLC, which also owns copyright interests in the Gaye song.
Sheeran won a trial in London last year in a separate copyright case over his hit Shape of You.
Gaye's heirs won an important verdict in 2015 when a jury in Los Angeles agreed with the claims that the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song Blurred Lines copied Gaye's Got to Give It Up.
