Ed Sheeran has emerged victorious in a copyright lawsuit that accused him of using parts of Marvin Gaye’s hit song, Let’s Get It On, in his own track Thinking Out Loud.
The lawsuit was brought by the family of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer of the 1973 soul classic, who claimed that Sheeran’s 2014 song bore “striking similarities” to Let’s Get It On.
However, a trial in New York found that Sheeran had not infringed on the family’s copyright interest in Gaye’s song.
During the trial, Sheeran played a rendition of Thinking Out Loud on his guitar to explain his songwriting process.
The lawsuit was brought against Sheeran, his label Warner Music Group, and his music publisher Sony Music Publishing in 2017.
The family had requested a preliminary and permanent injunction against any future recording, distribution or public performance of Thinking Out Loud.
The verdict in the US trial follows a similar but separate copyright case that Sheeran faced in London last year over his 2017 hit Shape Of You.
Article updated 2 weeks ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
