Ed Sheeran wins copyright case over his hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud’!

Last Updated on 05/07/2023 by てんしょく飯

In a statement, he says in front of the court that he’s happy & the stress caused by this trial: ‘This keeps me from retiring from the music business.’

Popular singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran has won a copyright case over his hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and Marvin Gaye’s song ‘Let’s Get It On’.

Ed Sheeran was sued by singer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote ‘Let’s Get It On’, for the chord progression and rhythm of his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ being similar to singer Marvin Gaye’s 1973 song ‘Let’s Get It On’. The estate’s administrator filed a copyright lawsuit against him.

Video] Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud (Official Music Video)

[Video] Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On

The trial began last week in New York federal court, and Ed Sheeran himself appeared in court. He insists that it is not plagiarism and that if he is stripped of ownership of the chord progression of ‘Thinking Out Loud’, “If that happens, I’m done. I’ll quit” and suggested he would retire from music.

According to NBC News, on 4 May local time, a federal jury in New York ruled that Ed Sheeran was not responsible for the copyright trial, and Ed won.

After the verdict, Ed issued a statement in front of the assembled press. ‘I am very pleased with the outcome of the trial. However, at the same time, I cannot allow any of these baseless allegations [by the plaintiffs] to go to trial and I am incredibly frustrated.

Ed also said, in terms of chord progression in songwriting, “We have spent the last eight years discussing two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and, again, differently, four chords that are used every day by songwriters all over the world. These chords are common building blocks that have been used to make music long before ‘Let’s Get It On’ was made and will be used to make music long after we are all gone. (These codes) are the songwriter’s ‘alphabet’, our toolkit, and should be there for all of us to use. Just as the colour blue doesn’t belong to anyone, these songs and the way they are played doesn’t belong to anyone,” he reiterated, claiming that they are not plagiarised and are major chords used by all artists.

Furthermore, Ed says that this type of lawsuit poses a threat to musicians’ ‘creative freedom’.

‘We need to be able to write original music and engage in independent creation without having to worry every single time that such creativity is unfairly questioned. Like many artists around the world, (co-writer) Amy Wadge and I work hard to independently create songs based on real, personal experiences. We have put in a lot of work for a living and to be accused of stealing someone else’s songs is tragic.”

This time Ed was unable to attend his grandmother’s funeral because he had to appear in court. Speaking about missing an important family moment, Ed said, “I’m just a guy who likes to hold a guitar and write music for people to enjoy. I am not and will not be a piggy bank for anyone to swing around in. Having to be in New York for this trial meant I couldn’t be with my family at my grandmother’s funeral in Ireland. I can’t get that time back,” he said with regret.

According to NBC News, the plaintiffs reportedly refused to make a statement outside the court after the verdict was delivered.