Ed Sheeran is gearing up for a massive tour and album release. Meanwhile making regular trips to Manhattan’s federal court. Ed Sheeran is defending his compositions in a highly watched copyright lawsuit.
The testimony in the Ed Sheeran copyright infringement lawsuit concluded at the conclusion of the court day. Moreover with the judge instructing the Manhattan jury, “Independent creation is a complete defence, no matter how similar that song is.”
The case is around whether or whether the British pop sensation plagiarised Marvin Gaye’s 1973 soul masterpiece “Let’s Get It On” in his 2014 single “Thinking Out Loud.”
The civil complaint is being brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend. Who co-wrote Gaye’s hit and claims “striking similarities and overt common elements” between the songs.
It’s the latest in a string of high-profile music copyright cases that has the industry on edge. Making some composers fearful of their own creative processes and exposure to lawsuit.
Sheeran, 32, has spent days testifying with his guitar in hand, performing recordings for the court. To illustrate that the 1-3-4-5 chord sequence at issue is a fundamental building element of pop music that cannot be owned.
His legal team contends that Gaye and Townsend were not the first to record it. Citing a number of Van Morrison songs that employ the pattern and were published earlier to “Let’s Get It On.”
Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist, has expressed similar thoughts.
“The world I want to live in is one where nobody sues anyone for a one- or two-bar melodic or harmonic similarity. Because those similarities can so easily occur through coincidence. “The professor at Massachusetts’ Berklee College of Music says.
In recent years, there have been a number of landmark music copyright cases, most notably in 2016. When Gaye’s family successfully sued the artists Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over similarities between their songs “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up.”
Many in the industry, including legal experts, were taken aback by the outcome. As many of the musical components identified were deemed basic and generally in the public domain.