Ed Townsend: Last News

Ed Sheeran has won a US copyright lawsuit which alleged he copied parts of Marvin Gaye’s hit song Let’s Get It On for his own track Thinking Out Loud.The lawsuit was officially filed in 2017 and claimed Ed had ripped off part of the classic Marvin Gaye song.The British musician was taken to court by the family of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer of the 1973 soul classic.They claimed that Sheeran’s 2014 song, written with collaborator Amy Wadge, bore “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” to Let’s Get It On.The trail in New York lasted for a week where Ed and the song's co-writer, Amy Wadge, gave evidence including several live singing performances. The singer explained that he had written the song when he was at home in England and that his grandparents were the inspiration behind the song, as well as a new romance which had just sparked around that time.

A 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.”

Ed Sheeran did not copy Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On in his own hit song Thinking Out Loud, a court has ruled.

A verdict has been reached in Ed Sheeran‘s copyright trial. On Thursday, a New York City jury found that the 32-year-old singer did not copy Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit, “Let’s Get It On,” on his 2014 song, “Thinking Out Loud.”

A federal jury in Manhattan has sided with Ed Sheeran in the plagiarism trial that saw the pop songwriter accused of stealing elements of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” in the writing of Sheeran’s 2014 track “Thinking Out Loud.” The suit was brought by heirs of the estate of Ed Townsend, a writer of “Let’s Get It On.” They contended that “Thinking Out Loud” used specific musical elements such as harmony and melody of “Let’s Get It On.” A video of Ed Sheeran performing a mash-up of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On” was used as evidence, though the singer testified that he and the song’s co-writer Amy Wadge were in fact inspired by Van Morrison’s music. Read Next: Ed Sheeran says he’ll retire from music if he loses Marvin Gaye plagiarism lawsuit Deliberations began on Wednesday (May 4) after the conclusion of the testimony.

Ed Sheeran’s threat that he will quit music if he loses the current ‘Thinking Out Loud’ song-theft case in New York might have actually boosted support for the Ed Townsend estate that instigated this legal battle. However, Sheeran’s lawyer warned yesterday, if her client loses, all songwriters lose because of the precedent that ruling will set.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Testimony wrapped up in the Ed Sheeran copyright infringement trial at the end of the court day Wednesday, as the judge sent the Manhattan jury into deliberations with a pointed admonition: “Independent creation is a complete defense, no matter how similar that song is.” U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton’s instructions may have left a high bar in the jury’s minds for just how much evidence the plaintiffs’ attorneys needed to have established to prove that Sheeran and his co-writer actually copied Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” when they wrote the pop hit “Thinking Out Loud.” According to Insider, Stanton told jurors that the lawyers for the heirs of Gaye’s co-writer, Ed Townsend, needed to “prove by a preponderance of the evidence… that Sheeran actually copied and wrongfully copied ‘Let’s Get It On'” — as opposed to the coincidental, negligible similarities argued by Sheeran’s attorneys.

Ed Sheeran has spent another day in court in an ongoing plagiarism trial related to his 2015 single ‘Thinking Out Loud’, and played Van Morrison in the court room to further contest accusations that the song ripped off Marvin Gaye‘s ‘Let’s Get It On’.Back in 2016, the pop star was sued by Ed Townsend, one of the song’s co-writers, who alleged that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the rhythm of the 1973 song, as well as an ascending four-chord sequence. It also references “striking similarities” between the two tracks that violate the copyright.

Ed Sheeran had some harsh words to say about a musicologist who presented expert testimony at the ‘Thinking Out Loud’ song-theft trial last week. “I think what he is doing is criminal”, the musician declared in court earlier this week, adding: “I don’t know why he’s allowed to be an expert”.Musicologist Alexander Stewart was testifying for the estate of the late Ed Townsend, which accuses Sheeran of ripping off the Marvin Gaye song ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’ back in 2014.

Thania Garcia Alanis Morissette and Ed Sheeran will join Luke Bryan as “American Idol” guest judges on May 7. The pair have been selected to take over for Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, who will be traveling overseas for their upcoming performances at King Charles III’s coronation. ABC revealed the switch on May 1, adding that Perry and Richie will still be checking into “Idol” with live updates from all the festivities at Windsor Castle. Morissette and Sheeran are scheduled to take over the show’s “616” episode, where America will cast their votes for the remaining top 5 contestants. This is the first “Idol” appearance for both of the guest judges, who will deliver performances of their own on the episode, with Morissette singing one of her many hits and Sheeran singing his new single, the ballad “Boat.”

Ed Sheeran returned to the stand in a Manhattan federal courthouse yesterday (May 1) in the ongoing "Let's Get It On" plagiarism trial, wherein the English pop star is accused of stealing elements of Marvin Gaye's 1973 song in the creation of his 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud." Questioned by his attorney Ilene Farkas on his plans if he loses the lawsuit, Sheeran suggested that he would quit music entirely. “If that happens, I’m done.

Ed Sheeran has said he will leave the music industry if he loses his ongoing copyright infringement trial.The singer-songwriter is currently going through court proceedings for a plagiarism trial related to his 2015 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.Back in 2016, the pop star was sued by Ed Townsend – one of the co-writers on the classic Marvin Gaye track ‘Let’s Get It On’ – who accused him of copying the song in ‘Thinking Out Loud’.The accusations allege that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the rhythm of the 1973 song, as well as an ascending four-chord sequence. It also references “striking similarities” between the two tracks that violate the copyright.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Ed Sheeran had strong words for a musicologist on Monday as the court hearing over alleged similarities between his hit “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” entered its second week. “I think what he is doing is criminal,” Sheeran said of the prior testimony from Alexander Stewart, a musicologist hired as an expert witness by Gaye’s estate, according to the New York Times. “I don’t know why he’s allowed to be an expert.” Sheeran, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Publishing are being sued by three heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who is the credited co-writer with Gaye on the 1973 song.

Ed Sheeran’s not the world’s most talented guitar player, that’s for certain. And don’t go dissing me for stating the obvious, not least because that’s according to Sheeran himself.

Thania Garcia Some of the most high-profile copyright infringement cases happen in the music industry, where the accusation of plagiarism is as nebulous as a concept can get. It happens sometimes by accident — an “unconscious borrowing” — and other times it’s on purpose, deemed a “musical homage.” Ed Sheeran has been at the center of the latest most-talked-about case brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with Marvin Gaye. Sheeran made his first court appearance earlier this week to deny the claims that his 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” lifts key elements of Gaye’s 1973 classic.

Ed Sheeran performed a snippet of “Thinking Out Loud” in front of a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, singing and strumming a few notes on an acoustic guitar during his Marvin Gaye copyright infringement trial.While testifying on the witness stand, the “Shape of You” singer took a tan Lowden wooden acoustic guitar and played the basic four-chord progression highlighting the 2014 hit single, giving the courtroom an intimate teaser of his gigs.Sheeran’s appearance came after his attorney Ilene Farkas called him to the stand to refute comments made by the plaintiffs’ musicologist Alexander Stewart, who argued that the first 24 seconds of “Thinking Out Loud” were similar to the beginning of Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.”However, Sheeran said that Stewart’s analysis was wrong, and performed the version he said he plays at every concert before he then played Stewart’s version.“It works very well with him, but it’s not the truth,” Sheeran said.The 32-year-old British singer-songwriter explained the origins of “Thinking Out Loud” and how the song was created after the death of his grandfather and watching his grandmother’s health decline.The song, which was written with longtime collaborator Amy Wadge, came to life after Sheeran hopped out of the shower of his home and heard Wadge strumming the chords.Kathryn Townsend Griffin — the daughter of the late Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 R&B classic with Gaye — wasn’t present Thursday. She had collapsed in court Wednesday and left the Moynihan Courthouse on a stretcher.Her attorney Ben Crump said that she was feeling better and is expected to return to court next week.Judge Louis L.

Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud copyright trial took an unexpected turn this week as one of his accusers, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, collapsed inside New York's Manhattan Federal Court.The chart-topping singer, 32, was at the scene as he is attempting to clear his name of plagiarising Marvin Gaye's iconic tune Let's Get It On from 1973. According to reports, after falling to the floor, Kathryn – an heir of original songwriter Ed Townsend – was helped up by several individuals and received medical attention before being stretchered out of the court house.

A video that Ed Sheeran’s lawyers tried to stop being shown to jurors in the big ‘Thinking Out Loud’ song-theft trial is the “smoking gun” that proves that the pop star ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his song. Or so said a lawyer representing the estate of ‘Let’s Get It On’ co-writer Ed Townsend as that trial got underway in New York yesterday. But not so, reckoned Sheeran himself.

ongoing lawsuit — which accuses Ed Sheeran of copying a Marvin Gaye song — a lawyer has accused the singer-songwriter of “confessing” to the infringement by mashing up the two songs at one of his concerts.The lawsuit extends back to 2017 when Ed Townsend — one of the co-writers on the Marvin Gaye track ‘Let’s Get It On’ — accused the British pop icon of copying the track in his hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.Now taken to court, the accusations allege that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the rhythm of the 1973 track, as well as an ascending four-chord sequence. It also references “striking similarities” between the two tracks, that violate the copyright.During the ongoing case, Sheeran’s attorney Irene Farkas told the court that the “heartfelt song” was written “without copying” Gaye, and features elements that are commonly used in pop music.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A copyright trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom pitting Ed Sheeran against the heirs of a co-writer of Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” saw the pop star taking the stand Tuesday, offering strong retorts to attorneys’ arguments that he had stolen elements of the 1970s hit for his own “Thinking Out Loud.” One piece of evidence that the judge had left in limbo in pre-trial hearings was a fan-shot video of Sheeran mashing up the two songs in concert in 2014. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, who had previously left the matter of whether to allow the medley unresolved, ultimately ruled Tuesday that a 30-second clip be played, despite Sheeran’s attorneys’ argument that it was “irrelevant and prejudicial.”