Singer Ed Sheeran has got himself a major court battle.
The award-winning musician who first took the world by storm in 2011 has found himself in troubled waters concerning his hit song “Thinking Out Loud.”
Sheeran released the song as part of his second studio album, x (pronounced “multiply”), in 2014, winning numerous awards, including a Grammy. Per reports, the hit track was said to have infringed on Marvin Gaye‘s hit 1973 song, “Let’s Get It On.”
The “Bad Habits” hitmaker has now been ordered to defend himself in a lawsuit brought against him by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which owns a major stake in Gaye’s famous song.
Read on to learn more.
Ed Sheeran Ordered To Stand Trial
According to the New York Post, Singer Sheeran won’t be able to dodge testifying in front of a jury for allegedly using parts of Marvin Gaye’s famous 1973 song “Let’s Get It On” in the song “Thinking Out Loud.”
The legal team for the “A Team” singer had requested that the Southern District of New York’s Judge Louis Stanton toss out the suit, claiming that the identical elements in the track were “commonplace.” Unfortunately, their argument was insufficient to convince Stanton, who decreed on Thursday that the case would be allowed to proceed to trial.
“There is no bright-line rule that the combination of two unprotectable elements is insufficiently numerous to constitute an original work,” Judge Stanton said, per Billboard.
He added, “A work may be copyrightable even though it is entirely a compilation of unprotectable elements.”
“Thinking Out Loud” has since garnered almost 4 billion views on YouTube since its release in 2014. It also won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards held in 2016.
The Lawsuit Was Filed Against Ed Sheeran In 2018
In 2018, Structured Asset Sales (SAS), which owns a partial stake in Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” filed a lawsuit against Sheeran, Co-writer Amy Wadge, and the record labels and publisher under which the singer released “Thinking Out Loud.”
Per NPR, the $100 million lawsuit contained explanations of how both songs shared many similarities, particularly referencing the theory of music used in their production.
It read in part, “In Gaye’s song, this chord progression within the backing pattern occurs in the key of E flat, and in Sheeran’s song, the progression occurs in D major … listeners will hear the two progressions as functionally equivalent … Many listeners will not recognize that Frank Sinatra sang ‘My Way’ in D major, while Elvis Presley sang that song in C major; it is clearly the same song despite the difference in key.”
Trial Date Not Yet Set
Following the ruling on Thursday, a trial date is yet to be announced, but it will take place in Manhattan Federal Court. While it is uncertain which way the final decision might go, Sheeran stands to lose a lot of money if the jury rules that “Thinking Out Loud” possesses vital elements from “Let’s Get It On.”
Stanton had already decided in a separate ruling that Sheeran’s concert proceeds would be eligible for damages in the event that he was proven guilty. It is speculated that the prospective amount could run into several million dollars.
In a statement to Billboard, industry executive David Pullman, who is the showrunner at Structured Asset Sales, told the publication that he was “pleased” with how the case is unfolding, adding that he “looks forward to more success in this case which involves the largest copyright infringement in history.”
Ed Sheeran Previously Won A Copyright Case
Although things might look a bit gloomy for Sheeran ahead of the case, there is still a considerable probability that he could emerge victorious, given that he previously won a different copyright suit against another of his hit singles, “Shape of You.”
Earlier in the year, Judge Antony Zacaroli of the UK’s high court ruled that Sheeran’s hit track did not infringe a 2015 song called “Oh Why,” released by an artist named Sami Chokri, in collaboration with music producer Ross O’Donoghue.
Per Billboard, the ruling detailed that there was no proof that Sheeran took inspiration from “Oh Why” when he penned “Shape of You.” He stated that the differences in both songs far outweighed the similarities that Chokri claimed.
Sheeran later shared in a statement that such suits were “really damaging to the songwriting industry,” adding that coincidences in music creation are commonplace and not a sign of infringement.