What’s going on with the latest copyright infringement case against Ed Sheeran?
Sheeran is expected to testify soon in a trial that will determine whether the British pop sensation stole musical property from Motown legend Marvin Gaye. The trial is set to begin Monday in Manhattan with jury selection and opening statements.
In 2016, the family of Gaye’s late songwriting partner, Ed Townsend, filed a lawsuit alleging that Sheeran’s popular track “Thinking Out Loud” plagiarized the Gaye classic “Let’s Get It On.” Townsend’s heirs contend in the complaint that “Thinking Out Loud” pilfers “the heart” of “Let’s Get It On” by using “melodic, harmonic and rhythmic compositions” that are “substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition” of Gaye’s sexy tune.
Sheeran’s attorneys have countered in court documents that “the two songs share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters.”
Meanwhile, Townsend family attorneys have argued that Sheeran has acknowledged an undeniable resemblance between the hit records by playing mash-ups of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On” during live performances. Other acts, such as Boyz II Men, have also performed musical arrangements that combine the songs, according to the lawsuit.
The judge overseeing the trial, Louis L. Stanton, denied the plaintiffs’ motion to play for the jury a video of Sheeran performing a “Let’s Get It On”-infused rendition of “Thinking Out Loud.” However, Stanton has promised to reconsider the request depending on the evidence presented in the Manhattan federal courtroom.
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump — who represents the Townsend family but is not participating in the trial — has claimed that Sheeran “blatantly took a Black artist’s music who he doesn’t view as worthy as compensation,” echoing accusations leveled in the past against famed white musicians such as the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
Though both tracks rely on romantic themes, the jury will be instructed to ignore elements such as lyrics and tone while comparing only the musical foundations of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On.”
This is not Sheeran’s first copyright-infringement battle. Last year, he won a case in the United Kingdom targeting his 2017 smash “Shape of You.” He also faced a $20-million lawsuit in 2016 over his song “Photograph.”
“I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there is no basis for the claim,” Sheeran said in a video shared last year on social media. “It’s really damaging to the songwriting industry.”
By bringing this case, Townsend’s family members are following in the footsteps of Gaye’s heirs, who previously won $7.4 million after suing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for modeling their chart-topping single “Blurred Lines” after Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”
The current Sheeran trial is expected to last about a week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.