NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — On Thursday, a federal jury found that British pop singer Ed Sheeran was not liable for copyright infringement for his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.”
Sheeran was sued by the heirs of composer Ed Townshend, who accused the British pop icon of lifting key elements of “Thinking Out Loud” from the classic Marvin Gaye hit “Let’s Get It On.”
The suit, which was originally brought by Townsend’s heirs in 2017, alleged that Sheeran lifted harmonic progressions as well as melodic and rhythmic elements from the Marvin Gaye chart-topper.
Sheeran maintained that he created “Thinking Out Loud,” over the course of several hours and while he did not deny that chords in the two songs were similar, his attorneys argued that the similarities were basic musical structures that were common parts of many compositions.
According to the New York Times, the jury in the case, which deliberated for just three hours, found that Sheeran created the song independently.
The suit was watched closely by the music industry and had potentially wide-ranging implications on copyright law if the jury found for the plaintiffs.
