Source: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Getty
Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” do sound a lot alike, however, a jury ruled Ed did not copy the 1970 classic.
A jury ruled on Thursday (May 4) that British musician did not take significant elements of Marvin Gaye’s song when writing his popular 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud,” according to CNN.
Sheeran was relieved as the New York jury answered the sole question. Early this week he experssed he would quit music if he was found guilty.
The lawsuit was originally filed by the heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 soul classic with Gaye. They claimed that “Thinking Out Loud” was too similar to “Let’s Get It On” and therefore broke the song’s copyright protection.
The verdict came after a two-week trial that included a courtroom performance by Sheeran. He claimed that the trial posed a threat to all musicians who make their own music.
During his testimony, Sheeran picked up a guitar multiple times on the witness stand to show how he seamlessly creates “mashups” of songs during concerts to “spice it up a bit” at concerts.
“When you write songs, somebody comes after you,” Sheeran said during his testimony. He insisted that he took nothing from “Let’s Get it On” when he wrote the Grammy award-winning song.
