Ed Sheeran Testifies In ‘Let’s Get It On’ Copyright Suit

NEW YORK – Ed Sheeran spoke in a New York courtroom on Tuesday, denying charges that his popular song “Thinking Out Loud” plagiarised Marvin Gaye’s soul classic “Let’s Get It On.”

The heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer on the 1973 soul smash, called Ed Sheeran, 32, to testify in the civil trial. The family has sued the English singer of infringement, claiming his 2014 single bore “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” to the legendary Gaye song.

Ed Sheeran, dressed in a dark suit and tie, was convinced he wrote the song himself. His evidence was sometimes heated, as he sparred with the plaintiff’s counsel, Keisha Rice, during cross-examination.

In response to video evidence shown in court of the musician transitioning on stage between the two songs, Sheeran stated that it was “quite simple to weave in and out of songs” that were in the same key.

“I’d be an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that,” Sheeran said of the charge of song plagiarism.

Earlier in the day, Ben Crump, a lawyer for Townsend’s heirs, told jurors that combining the two songs amounted to “a confession.”

“We have a smoking gun,” he claimed, referring to the concert footage of Sheeran switching between the two songs.

Crump said the case was about “giving credit where credit is due.”

Ilene Farkas, Sheeran’s lawyer, maintained that Ed Sheeran and a co-writer, Amy Wadge, wrote their song separately and did not steal from Townsend and Gaye.

Ed Sheeran spoke in a New York courtroom on Tuesday.

She explained that they “created this heartfelt song without copying ‘Let’s Get It On.'”

According to his lawyer, the chord pattern and basic building blocks of Sheeran’s song are frequently utilized and did not initially arise in ‘Let’s Get It On’.

Since its release in 1973, “Let’s Get It On” has been heard in innumerable films, commercials, and hundreds of millions of streams, spins, and radio plays. In 2016, “Thinking Out Loud” received a Grammy for Song of the Year.

In 2017, the complaint was filed. The experiment might run up to two weeks.

Townsend, who composed the 1958 R&B doo-wop classic “For Your Love,” was a singer, songwriter, and lawyer. He passed away in 2003.

His daughter, Kathryn Townsend Gryphon, is the plaintiff in the case.

“I think Mr. Sheeran is a great artist with a great future,” she testified, adding that she didn’t want the matter to reach this stage. “But I have to protect my father’s legacy.”

SOURCE – (AP)