Posted by In his recent appearance at the Federal Court in Manhattan, Ed Sheeran pledged to quit his music career if a jury finds him guilty of plagiarizing Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit song “Let’s Get It On” for his 2015 hit single “Thinking Out Loud.” Specifically, Ed Townsend’s relatives – his daughter Kathryn Griffin Townsend, his sister Helen McDonald, and his late wife Cherrigale’s estate, have filed a lawsuit against Sheeran.
The lawsuit claims the singer’s 2015 hit has similarities to Marvin Gay’s hit “Let’s Get It On,” of 1973, including a nearly identical chord sound.
“If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping,” Sheeran said when asked in court about the toll the copyright suit is taking on him. According to DailyMail, the singer was referring to his music career and added, ‘I find it insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it.”
Also in court, Sheeran rebutted the accusations and maintained that “Thinking Out Loud” is an entirely original composition, refuting claims of resemblances to Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” ‘I know the chords that I’m playing on that guitar,’ he said in an exchange with the plaintiff’s lawyer, as reported by Insider’s Laura Italiano.
Per Rolling Stone, Sheeran had told the court that “pop songs are built on building blocks that have been freely available for hundreds of years.” However, Townsend’s relatives are seeking a monetary compensation amount that has not been disclosed and trying to bar Sheeran from performing “Thinking Out Loud” at live shows.
In 2015, Gaye’s children won a lawsuit of copyright infringement against Pharrell and Robin Thicke. At the time, the court found the pair had used elements from Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” in their 2013 chart-topping song “Blurred Lines.” This case is now seen as a landmark for copyright disputes in music, and artists such as Questlove have warned it might harm creativity.
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