Ed Sheeran faces trial for plagiarism on ‘Thinking Out Loud’
Ed Sheeran, a British megastar, will testify in court to defend himself against claims that he plagiarized Marvin Gaye for his international hit song “Thinking Out Loud.”
Ed Sheeran, a top-charting artist and internationally successful pop star, has been informed by a federal judge that he must go to trial in response to claims that he plagiarized Marvin Gaye’s 1973 smash song “Let’s Get It On” on his 2014 track “Thinking Out Loud.”
In his application to the court, Ed Sheeran argued that the copyright claims should be rejected because they were “baseless” and “far too frequent.”
The plaintiffs claim that Ed Sheeran and his writing partner Amy Wadge copied and exploited, without authorization or credit the Marvin Gaye song, “including but not limited to the melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation, and looping.” They are seeking $100 million (£90 million) in damages.
A lawsuit was recently filed against Ed Sheeran and his songwriting partners John McDaid and Steven McCutcheon over claims that a chorus from their song “Shape of You” was lifted verbatim from Ross O’Donoghue and Sami Chokri 2015 single “Oh Why.”
The High Court Judge ruled that the imitation was “not purposefully nor unconsciously” made during the trial that took place in March 2022. Ed and his co-defendants were given £900,000 in costs.
Ed wrote on his Instagram page following the court decision that he hoped it would put an end to more unfounded claims. Ed Sheeran is not yet getting his desire, though, as he must deal with another lawsuit.