Superstar singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran is scheduled to face a New York City jury over a copyright infringement case concerning his 2014 song ‘Thinking Out Loud.’
Sued by Structured Asset Sales, which owns a stake in the copyrights of songwriter Ed Townsend, Sheeran is being sued over a claim that he copied Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On,’ (which Townsend co-wrote,) in his song ‘Thinking Out Loud.’
In arguing that the elements he is accused of copying are “commonplace and un-protectable” Sheeran and his legal team tried to have the lawsuit dismissed. However, on Thursday (9.29,) Judge Louis Stanton declined the request and ruled that the case should be decided by a jury at a Manhattan federal courthouse.
“There is no bright-line rule that the combination of two un-protectable elements is insufficiently numerous to constitute an original work,” stated the judge about about Sheeran’s argument for dismissal, reports Billboard. “A work may be copyrightable even though it is entirely a compilation of un-protectable elements.” And a lawyer for Structured Asset Sales, Hillel Parness, told Reuters the company was “pleased” with the decision, while Sheeran has yet to comment.
The latest suit comes months after Sheeran went on trial in England after being accused of copying Sami Chokri’s 2015 song ‘Oh Why’ with his 2017 single ‘Shape of You.’ After winning the case in April, Ed took took to Instagram, writing “I hope with this ruling, it means in the future baseless claims like this can be avoided. This really does have to end… Hopefully, we can all get back to writing songs rather than having to prove that we can write them.”
Not the first time Marvin Gaye’s music has been involved in copyright lawsuits, the R&B legend’s heirs successfully took Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams to trial over claims their song ‘Blurred Lines’ infringed on Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up’ in 2015.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Lunchbox LP