Ed Sheeran Wins “Thinking Out Loud” Copyright Case
deadline.comA jury found today that Ed Sheeran did not wrongfully copy Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” with his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.” The jury reached a unanimous verdict after just under three hours of deliberations.
The lawsuit was brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer on the Motown classic. The suit alleged that the syncopated chord pattern of Sheeran’s song, which is noticeably similar to the 1973 tune, is the beating “heart” of “Let’s Get It On.” The New York Times reported that, after the verdict was rendered, the singer approached Kathryn Griffin Townsend, Mr.
Townsend’s daughter, and spoke briefly with her. Sheeran read the following statement outside the courtroom: We spent the past eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day all over the world.
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 music long after we are all gone.
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