Ed Sheeran beats copyright appeal over ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and similarities to Marvin Gaye

nypost.com:

defeated a separate copyright lawsuit by Townsend’s heirs, who own a separate share of his interest in “Let’s Get It On,” in a closely watched jury trial.SAS sued Sheeran in 2018.

U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton dismissed its case following the verdict in the heirs’ case.Stanton found that the musical elements Sheeran allegedly copied were too common to merit copyright protection.The appeals court agreed, saying that protecting the elements could stifle creativity, and that Sheeran’s and Gaye’s songs were not similar enough for Sheeran’s to have infringed on SAS’ copyright.It also rejected the argument that Stanton should have reviewed Gaye’s actual recording, which according to Pullman included key elements that Sheeran copied, rather than focus on the song’s sheet music deposited with the U.S.