Ed Sheeran took the witness stand in a New York courtroom on Tuesday to deny that his hit song “Thinking Out Loud” copied Marvin Gaye’s soul classic “Let’s Get It On.”
Sheeran, who is 32 years old, was asked to appear in the civil trial by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who wrote “Se*ual Healing” with Gaye in 1973. The Gaye family has said that the English star broke their copyright because his 2014 hit had “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” with the famous Gaye song.
According to AP News, Sheeran, dressed in a dark suit and tie, was sure he had written the song. During cross-examination, he argued with Keisha Rice, the lawyer for the client, about some of the things he said.
When video footage of the artist switching between the two songs was shown in court, Sheeran said it was “quite easy to weave in and out of songs that are in the same key.” Sheeran said about the claim that he stole songs, “I’d be a fool to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that.”
Ben Crump, a lawyer for Townsend’s children, told the jury earlier in the day that putting the two songs together was like “a confession.” “We have a smoking g*n,” he said about the live video showing Sheeran switching between the two songs.
Crump said that the case was about “giving credit where credit is due.” Sheeran watched as his lawyer, Ilene Farkas, claimed that he and a co-writer, Amy Wadge, wrote their song on their own and did not copy Townsend and Gaye. Let’s Discovered Who Is Steven Crowder? Discovered His Journey From YouTube To Fox News.
She said, “They didn’t copy ‘Let’s Get It On’ when they made this heartfelt song.” Sheeran’s lawyer said that “Let’s Get It On” wasn’t the first song to use the chord pattern and basic building blocks of the song.
Since it came out in 1973, “Let’s Get It On” has been in a lot of movies and ads. It has also been streamed, spun, and played on the radio hundreds of millions of times. “Thinking Out Loud” won the 2016 Grammy for best song.
Below we have given a tweet about the lawsuit that was filed by the heirs of Gaye’s co-writer in 2017, and the trial begins today. You can see below:
Ed Sheeran is being sued over claims a 2014 hit song ripped off Gaye's classic
The lawsuit was filed by heirs of Gaye's co-writer in 2017 and trial begins today pic.twitter.com/myxofDYXji— News News News (@NewsNew97351204) April 25, 2023
In 2017, the suit was filed. The trial could go on for as long as two weeks. Townsend was a singer, songwriter, and lawyer. He also wrote the R&B doo-wop hit “For Your Love,” which was a big hit in 1958. He died in 2003.
His daughter Kathryn Townsend Griffin is the person who filed the case. You might know Lawsuit Filed Against Illinois G*n Ban!
She said in her statement, “I think Mr. Sheeran is a great artist with a great future,” and she added that she didn’t want the case to get to this point. “But I need to keep my father’s name alive.”
