Ed Sheeran has been charged with plagiarizing Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On in his famous song Thinking Out Loud. The heirs of Ed Townsend, the song’s co-writer in 1973, say that Sheeran’s song contains substantial similarities and “overt common elements” that infringe on their copyright.
The complaint was filed in 2017 and is presently being heard in the Manhattan federal courtroom of Judge Louis L Stanton for up to two weeks. Sheeran, who is now 32, is scheduled to testify. Ben Crump, a well-known civil rights lawyer, made the plaintiff’s opening argument on Tuesday.
“If you remember nothing else about this trial, about this case, simply remember it is about giving credit where credit is due.”
The jury will hear both songs multiple times during the trial. However, the words of the songs are considered legally unimportant. Instead, jurors are told to concentrate solely on the essential musical components, such as melody, harmony, and rhythm, as documented on sheet music filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The similar Chord progression was the reason for similar sounds. (Image Source: CD)
According to Sheeran’s attorneys, the structural similarities between the two songs happen to be examples of the foundations of popular music.
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“The two songs share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters,” they said in a court filing.
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