“Ed Sheeran Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Similarities to Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On'”

In April 2022, the 32-year-old singer and songwriter won a similar but separate legal battle when the High Court in London dismissed two musicians accusing him of plagiarizing one of their works for his megahit Shape of You.

This time, the plaintiff is made up of the heirs and heiresses of Ed Townsend, an American musician and producer who co-wrote Let’s Get It On with Marvin Gaye. Released in 1973, this soul classic has remained famous for its guitar notes and sultry vocals from the Prince of Motown.

In their copyright infringement claim, Townsend’s heirs, including his daughter, claim there are striking resemblances with Thinking Out Loud, released in 2014.

Two songs mingled on stage

The plaintiff wants proof that the group Boyz 2 Men had mixed the two songs on stage. Ed Sheeran himself had chained the very different voice lines of the two successes in concert, on the same guitar harmonies, a sequence still visible on the Internet.

A evidence challenged by the singer’s lawyers, for whom Let’s Get It On that use the same or similar chord progression”,”text”:”there are dozens, if not hundreds of songs pre and post Let’s Get It On that use the same or similar chord progression” }}”>there are dozens, if not hundreds of songs before and after Let’s Get It On that use the same or similar chord progression.

Ed Sheeran’s song was ranked second on the Billboard Hot 100, the American reference chart, and won the Grammy award for best song of the year in 2016.

The complaint, filed in 2016, was first dismissed for a procedural issue, then refiled in 2017, also against Sony.

Of Shape of You To Thinking Out Loud

Ed Sheeran came in person to defend his song Shape of You in the previous trial in London, a case he considered emblematic of abusive practices that undermine creation. He could also be present during the trial in New York.

The judge agreed with him, finding that he had not copied, even unconsciouslypart of the melody of the song Oh Why (2015), de Sami Chokri et Ross O’Donoghue.

The judge noted obvious similarities between the two songs, with a melody stemming in particular from the minor pentatonic scale like countless songs from pop, rock, folk and bluesbut also important differences.