Ed Sheeran has testified in the ongoing trial wherein the British singer-songwriter is accused of plagiarising Marvin Gaye‘s 1973 hit ‘Let’s Get It On’ for his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud’. Appearing in a New York court this week, Sheeran defended his songwriting process, discussing the shared “building blocks” that the majority of modern pop songs are built upon.
The case reaches back to 2017, when the heirs of ‘Let’s Get It On’ co-writer Ed Townsend sued Sheeran, saying the “melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions” of ‘Thinking Out Loud’ are “substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition” of ‘Let’s Get It On’.
Compare ‘Thinking Out Loud’ with ‘Let’s Get It On’
During the trial, footage was shown of Sheeran mashing up the two songs during a live performance, which the plaintiff’s lawyer Ben Crump argued amounted to a “confession” of plagiarism from Sheeran and a “smoking gun” in the case.
Sheeran, however, has denied he and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the ascending four-chord sequence and rhythm from ‘Let’s Get It On’. In response to the footage shown of Sheeran mashing up the two songs, the singer-songwriter argued that “most pop songs can fit over most pop songs”, citing the similarities between the Beatles‘ ‘Let It Be’ and Bob Marley‘s ‘No Woman, No Cry’.
“If I had done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be a quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that,” Sheeran said. He added: “It is my belief that most pop songs are built on building blocks that have been freely available for hundreds of years.”
Sheeran’s attorneys had previously attempted to have the suit dismissed last year, with his team arguing that ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Let’s Get It On’ “share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression” that is “freely available to all songwriters”.
Musicologists for both sides of the case have weighed in, with one retained by the plaintiffs describing the chords in both songs as “virtually interchangeable” but acknowledging minor differences. A musicologist for Sheeran said the chord sequence is not unique, citing songs by other artists that utilised the same chords.
It is not the first time Sheeran has been accused of plagiarism. In 2017, he made an out-of-court settlement after his song ‘Photograph’ was accused of copying Matt Cardle’s song ‘Amazing’. Sheeran later said he regretted the decision to settle, claiming it opened floodgates for similar claims.
Last year, Sheeran won a court battle after he was accused of plagiarising a 2015 work by songwriters Sam Chokri and Ross O’Donohughe to create his hit ‘Shape of You’, with the pair arguing Sheeran’s song infringed “particular lines and phrases” of one of their songs. It was later ruled Sheeran “neither deliberately nor subconsciously” copied elements of Chokri and O’Donohughe’s song when writing ‘Shape of You’.
Further Reading
Ed Sheeran Denies ‘Shape Of You’ Plagiarism In High Court Appearance
The Rolling Stones are Being Sued for Copyright Infringement
Ed Sheeran Announces New Album ‘–’, Final Album of His Mathematics Era
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