Thinking Out Loud
Success for Ed Sheeran in copyright lawsuit
Beaming: Ed Sheeran in New York federal court after winning his copyright infringement lawsuit. photo
© John Minchillo/AP/dpa
Ed Sheeran partially defended himself during the trial. After several hours of deliberations, the jury in New York came to a unanimous verdict.
The British singer Ed Sheeran (32) has won a lawsuit in New York for alleged copyright infringement. After several hours of deliberations, a jury in New York unanimously found that Sheeran did not copy his song “Thinking Out Loud” from the song “Let’s Get It On”.
The heirs of US musician Ed Townsend, who died in 2003, accused Sheeran of copyright infringement. Townsend had released the 1973 song “Let’s Get It On” with colleague Marvin Gaye. Sheeran had defended himself in part in the process and rejected the allegations. “Thinking Out Loud” is based on chords and rhythms that are “basic building blocks of music” that nobody can own.
The process had previously been postponed several times. Sheeran, like some of his colleagues – such as Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams – has repeatedly faced allegations of copyright infringement in recent years.