Ed Sheeran can finally breathe a sigh of relief after a court ruled that he had not been proven guilty of plagiarizing the classic song by musician Marvin Gaye "Let's Get It On". Launching from The New York Times, the verdict in the Ed Sheeran case came from the Manhattan Court on Thursday May 4, 2023.
Prior to the ruling, a two-week copyright infringement trial was held between the singer-songwriter and heir Ed Townsend , who co-wrote "Let's Get It On" with Gaye. Sheeran considered that the accusation of copyright infringement had insulted him, he even said at the previous trial that he would leave the music industry if he was declared defeated in court.
Both Sheeran and " Thinking Out Loud " songwriter Amy Wage testified that the chords in question were "common progressions" that are fairly common in some songs. However, the Townsend family has a different opinion, they say that the songs "Thinking Out Loud" and "Let's Get It On" have a very high degree of similarity.
Quoting from The Guardian, the Townsend family as plaintiffs said that Ed Sheeran and Amy Wage had stolen a classic song from Marvin Gaye which he co-wrote with his father using a melodic, harmonic and rhythmic composition that was substantially and/or very similar to the drum composition of the song " Thinking Out Loud". It is known that Gaye died in 1984, while Townsend died in 2003.
Kathryn Townsend, Townsend's daughter said that although she admits Ed Sheeran is a great musician with a bright future, she hopes her lawsuit filed in 2017 results in a fair decision for her to protect her father's legacy. Even though the song "Thinking Out Loud" was the song that made Ed Sheeran get his first Grammy, but this actually made him experience a copyright infringement case that was accused of him.
While outside the courthouse, the Shape of You singer expressed his feelings when he won the case. "I'm obviously very happy with the outcome of this case, but at the same time I'm extremely frustrated that completely baseless claims like these are allowed to go to trial," Ed Sheeran said in a statement to The New York Times on Thursday May 4, 2023.
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