Did Ed Sheeran hit pilfer Marvin Gaye classic? Trial starts in New York
- Lawsuit filed in 2017 has finally made it to a trial that is expected to last a week, and is expected to see Sheeran testifying
- Jurors will decide if Sheeran’s 2014 Thinking Out Loud track is too similar to the late Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, released in 1973
Jury selection and opening statements are set to begin Monday in a trial that mashes up Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud with Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On.
The heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer of the 1973 soul classic, sued Sheeran, alleging the English pop star’s hit 2014 tune has “striking similarities” to Let’s Get It On and “overt common elements” that violate their copyright.
The lawsuit filed in 2017 has finally made it to a trial that is expected to last a week in the Manhattan federal courtroom of 95-year-old Judge Louis L. Stanton.
Sheeran, 32, is among the witnesses expected to testify.
Let’s Get It On is the quintessential, sexy slow jam heard in countless films and commercials that has garnered hundreds of millions of streams, spins and radio plays over the past 50 years. Thinking Out Loud, which won a Grammy for song of the year, is a much more marital take on love and sex.
While the jury will hear the recordings of both songs, probably many times, their lyrics, and vibes, are legally insignificant. Jurors are supposed to only consider the raw elements of melody, harmony and rhythm that make up the composition of Let’s Get It On, as documented on sheet music filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
