Ed Sheeran claims he copied Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On
Nearly a decade after “Thinking Out Loud” climbed the charts, Sheeran would go to court to fight allegations that he copied from Gaye’s iconic slow jam.
Last April, after a London judge ruled that Ed Sheeran’s chart-topping 2017 hit “Shape of You” did not infringe copyright on an earlier song, the pop superstar seemed more tired than celebrating.
the judge cleared his name
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The verdict came after a two-week trial. in which Sheeran took the stand to defend himself, briefly singing in court to show that different songs often contain similar-sounding material. However, the judge cleared his name. But Sheeran took the opportunity to regret that such cases are “too common now” and were “really damaging to the songwriting industry”.
“Amazing Similarities”
Released in September 2014, “Thinking Out Loud” was a commercial and critical success for Sheeran. which peaked at number 2 on the Hot 100 before winning Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards.
A 2015 article in Spin stated
But listeners quickly noticed similarities to “Let’s Get It On”. YouTube mashups and social media comments claimed there was serious overlap, and a 2015 article in Spin said the song was an “incredibly obvious successor” to Gaye’s famous slow jam.
Katherine Townsend Griffin and Ed Townsend to Sheeran
It didn’t take long for those comments to turn into legal charges. In August 2016, Sheeran was joined by Katherine Townsend Griffin and other successors to Ed Townsend, Gaye’s longtime producer, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On”. filed a copyright infringement lawsuit stating that he had intentionally copied an earlier song to make it his own, in violation of federal copyright law.
repeated continuously during ‘thinking’
In their complaint, attorneys for the Townsend heirs wrote, “Defendant copied the heart of ‘Let’s’ and repeated it over and over during ‘Thinking’. The melodic, melodic and rhythmic compositions in ‘Chintan’ are independent compositions”. are not the product of The rightful heirs, who won the infamous jury verdict that Robin Thicke and Pharrell’s megahit “Blurred Lines” infringed on the singer’s “Got to Give It Up,” are not involved in the case.
“A Common Chord Progression”
Faced with those allegations, Sheeran’s lawyers immediately asked the judge to dismiss the case. He argued that the only real similarity between “Thinking” and “Let’s Get It On” was a simple chord progression. which he said was so unmistakable that it could not form the basis of an infringement suit.
