Ed Sheeran-Marvin Gaye copyright case: Star wins trial over claims Thinking Out Loud ripped off Let’s Get It On
Ed Sheeran has won his copyright trial over similarities between his hit single Thinking Out Loud and the Marvin Gaye 1973 classic Let’s Get It On.
Sheeran was accused of ripping off part of the famed soul track Gaye created with fellow songwriter Ed Townsend in a lawsuit originally filed by heirs of Townsend in 2017.
They alleged the British star’s 2014 number one has “striking similarities” to Let’s Get It On and “overt common elements” that infringe their copyright.
On Thursday, a New York jury decided that Sheeran did not infringe copyright of Let’s Get It On.
Pic: Elizabeth Williams/AP
The jury took just under three hours to decide he independently created Thinking Out Loud.
Those inside the court said Sheeran stood up and hugged his lawyers when the decision was read out, and his wife was seen wiping away tears.
Speaking outside court, Sheeran said he was “very happy” to have won his case and that he did “not have to retire from [his] day job after all”.
According to reports, the star had said he would be “done” with music should he lose the case.
He added outside court that he was “unbelievable frustrated baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all”.
“We’ve spent the last eight years talking about two songs with dramatically different lyrics, melodies and four chords which are also different and used by songwriters every day, all over the world,” he said.
“These chords are common building blocks which were used to create music long before Let’s Get It On was written.”
He said they should be there for all songwriters to use and no one owns them, in the same way “no one owns the colour blue”.
During a week-long hearing at a federal court in Manhattan, New York City, jurors heard arguments from both sides – as well as a few brief guitar sing-alongs from Sheeran and a recording of the star himself playing a “mash-up” of the two songs on stage.
Kathryn Townsend Griffin, daughter of Ed Townsend, Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On co-writer, pictured outside court
Both Sheeran and the song’s co-writer, Amy Wadge, gave evidence during the hearing, telling jurors they did not copy Let’s Get It On.
Sheeran said he and other performers frequently perform “mash ups” of songs and that on other occasions he had combined Thinking Out Loud with Van Morrison’s Crazy Love and Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You.
Gaye, who died in 1984, collaborated with Townsend, who died in 2003, to write Let’s Get It On, which topped the Billboard charts in the year it was released. It went on to appear in numerous films and adverts, and has garnered hundreds of millions of streams and radio plays in the past 50 years.
Sheeran, who is from Suffolk, is one of the most successful modern music stars in the world, and Thinking Out Loud, which won a Grammy for song of the year in 2016, is among his biggest hits.
The result in New York comes after the British star won a similar copyright case in the UK in 2022.
In that hearing, he was accused by two lesser-known songwriters of ripping off part of one of their songs for his huge 2017 hit Shape Of You. However, the judge ruled that Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied a hook from the song.
Following the ruling, Sheeran released a video statement hitting out at “baseless” copyright claims that are “damaging” to the industry.
Sheeran and his Thinking Out Loud co-writer Amy Wadge picked up the award for song of the year at the Grammys in 2016
It has been a difficult period for the star, who opened up about his mental health struggles as he released details of his latest album Divide earlier in 2022 – revealing that his wife was diagnosed with a tumour while she was pregnant and that he suffered “fear, depression and anxiety” as he dealt with her diagnosis as well as the death of his close friend Jamal Edwards.
Sheeran is also facing further claims about Thinking Out Loud in New York from a company that holds copyright interests in the Gaye song.
In 2015, Gaye’s heirs won a $5.3 million judgment from a lawsuit claiming the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song Blurred Lines copied Gaye’s Got To Give It Up.
UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.
Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA.
In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.
Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.
More than one in five said they would never buy an EV.
The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK focuses heavily on increasing the supply of the vehicles.
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What you can do to reach net zero
In 2024, at least 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK had to be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.
Each year, those percentages will rise, reaching 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in 2030.
Manufacturers will face fines of £15,000 per vehicle if electric vehicle sales fall short of 28% of total production this year.
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By 2035, all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero emission, according to the Department for Transport.
Second-hand diesel and petrol cars will still be allowed to be sold after this date, and their fuel will still be available.
There are more EVs – but will people buy them?
In February, 25% of new cars were powered purely by battery and in January, they made up 21% of all new cars registered in the UK.
But despite the growth of electric sales, manufacturers continue to warn that the market will not support the growth required to hit government EV targets, and called for consumer incentives and the extension of tax breaks.
The AA suggested the government’s plan focuses on “supply but does little to encourage demand for EVs”.
It called on ministers to co-ordinate a public awareness campaign alongside the motoring industry which directly targets drivers who doubt the viability of EVs.
“Our message to government is more needs to be done to make EVs accessible for everyone,” said Jakob Pfaudler, AA chief executive.
Which? head of consumer rights Sue Davis said: “When it comes to making sustainable choices such as switching to an electric car, our research shows that people are often held back by high costs, complex choices or uncertainty.
“The government needs to provide the right information on electric vehicles and other sustainable choices so that people have the confidence to switch.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We’re investing over £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs.
“This includes installing a public charge point every 28 minutes, keeping EV incentives in the company car tax regime to 2030, and extending 100% first-year allowances for zero-emission cars for another year.
“Second-hand EVs are also becoming cheaper than ever, with one in three available under £20,000 and 21 brand new models available for less than £30,000.
“We’re seeing growing consumer confidence as a result.”
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