Ed Sheeran to be sued over copyright of 'Thinking Out Loud' song.
The decision was made on Thursday, September 29 by Judge Louis Stanton, Senior District Judge for the Southern District of New York. The trial will determine whether Ed Sheeran's hit single 'Thinking Out Loud' is a case of copyright infringement due to its similarities to Marvin Gaye's 1973 single 'Let's Get It On'.
The $100 million copyright infringement lawsuit was filed in 2018 not by the trustees of Marvin Gaye's estate, but by Structured Asset Sales, a company that owns some of the "Let's Get It On" co-creator's copyright. Ed Townsend.
Structured Asset Sales claims that 'Thinking Out Loud' has the same melody, rhythm, drums, tempo and other similar musical elements as Marvin Gaye's 'Let's Get it On'.
Ed Sheeran's lawyers have long sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the similar elements between the two songs were too common for "Thinking Out Loud" to infringe the copyright of "Let's Get It On."
The defense pointed to another song, "Since I Lost My Baby" by the Temptations, as evidence that a single artist cannot claim ownership of small musical building blocks.
Despite Ed Sheeran's lawyers arguing that the elements from 'Let's Get It On' that are thought to be in 'Thinking Out Loud' are not substantial enough to justify copyright infringement, Judge Stanton said he did not it's that simple to figure that out.
“There is no express rule that the combination of two unprotected elements is not numerically sufficient to constitute an original work. A work may be protected by copyright even if it is composed entirely of non-copyrightable elements,” the judge said in his ruling.
A few months ago, Ed Sheeran won the lawsuit brought against him regarding his song 'Shape Of You'.
In that lawsuit, Sheeran and his two 'Shape Of You' co-creators, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, were accused of copying Sami Switch's song 'Oh Why'.
In 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Ed Sheeran over the copyright of his song 'Photograph'. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount, but Ed Sheeran later admitted he regretted the out-of-court settlement because it "opened the door" to more lawsuits.
A start date for the trial, which will take place in Manhattan federal court, has not yet been set.
