Ed Sheeran beats second copyright lawsuit over 'Thinking Out Loud'

Far from a victim of the second album curse, Lewis Capaldi's brand-new record Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent already claims the title of 2023's fastest-selling LP so far, the Official Charts Company can confirm.

Ed Sheeran has won another copyright case regarding his 2014 Number One hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’.Earlier this month, the pop star was found to have not copied Marvin Gaye‘s ‘Let’s Get It On’ for ‘Thinking Out Loud’, a US court ruled in a high-profile case.The case was brought against the pop star in 2016 by Ed Townsend – one of the co-writers on Gaye’s classic 1973 track – who accused Sheeran of copying the song on his 2014 hit.The verdict came after Sheeran reportedly took to the stand in Manhattan to insist he would be “done” with music if found guilty.Now, the star has won another lawsuit that was filed in 2018 by Structured Asset Sales, the partial owners of the copyright of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote ‘Let’s Get It On’.In his verdict, New York federal judge Louis L. Stanton dismissed the case on similar grounds as the other, more high-profile proceeding, saying: “It is an unassailable reality that the chord progression and harmonic rhythm in ‘Let’s Get It On’ are so commonplace, in isolation and in combination, that to protect their combination would give ‘Let’s Get It On’ an impermissible monopoly over a basic musical building block.”He added: “There is no genuine issue of material fact as to whether defendants infringed the protected elements of ‘Let’s Get It On.

Ed Sheeran retains his position at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart for a second consecutive week with – (Subtract).

Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Adele have been included on the Sunday Times Rich List – named as some of the UK’s richest people under the age of 35.Released earlier today (May 19), the list counts down the 35 richest people under the age of 35 in the UK. Among sporting legends, including Rory McIlroy and Anthony Joshua, actors and entrepreneurs, three British musicians are also featured.These are pop icons Ed Sheeran, Adele and Harry Styles, who are all listed as having an estimated wealth of more than £150million.All having experienced enormous success across the globe, Sheeran – aged 32 – has the highest ranking out of the three musical acts.

Ed Sheeran, Adele and Harry Styles are among the UK’s wealthiest people under the age of 35, according to the 2023 Sunday Times 35 under 35 Rich List. All three musicians were listed as having wealth higher than £150 million after seeing success in both the UK and the US. Sheeran and Adele both claim spots in the top 10 of the under-35 list – Sheeran, 32, in seventh place with an estimated wealth of £300 million.

longtime collaborators did not rip off Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” with their 2014 hit.Wadge, 47, last week shared a picture of the celebratory ink on her left arm, which read “independently created” in a typewriter-style typeface.Heirs of “Let’s Get It On” composer Ed Townsend alleged in a $100 million lawsuit that Sheeran and Wadge’s song contained elements of harmony, melody and rhythm stolen from the classic Gaye tune.But the jury found the British musicians “independently created” the romantic ballad.In an Instagram post showing off her new tat, Wadge said she was “on cloud nine about the verdict” which came after “three of the toughest weeks” of her life.Sheeran, 32, was also overcome with emotion following the legal ordeal.

After storming into Number 1 last week with the fastest-selling album of 2023 so far, Ed Sheeran isn’t going anywhere, with Subtract looking to spend a second week at the top of the Official Albums Chart.  

Ed Sheeran extends his flawless run of chart-topping albums as – (Subtract) debuts at Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart.

Ed Sheeran just made his debut at the 58th annual ACM Awards and he delivered a powerful performance with some help from Luke Combs.The «Shape of You» singer hit the stage Thursday night at the Ford Center's The Star in Frisco, Texas, and performed «Life Goes On» while strumming his guitar and rocking an appropriately country denim ensemble.Sheeran turned the number — off his just-released album — into a duet with Combs, who joined the English singer on stage in a surprise appearance that gave the song a fantastic country music flair.After the unexpected pairing, host Garth Brooks took the stage to ask the artists about their collaboration and how they made it come together.«We met like 2018, I'd heard Luke's music through a friend… and we've just been friends for years now,» Sheeran said, smiling, «and it's been great.»Sheeran's performance comes exactly one week after a verdict sided with him in a copyright trial over his «Thinking Out Loud» track. A New York City jury ultimately found that the 32-year-old singer did not copy Marvin Gaye's 1973 hit, «Let's Get It On,' for his 2014 hit track. After the verdict was reached, Sheeran, who was forced to miss his grandmother's funeral in Ireland to attend the trial, publicly released a statement about his win and the case as a whole.»I am obviously very happy with the outcome of the case, and it looks like I'm not going to have to retire from my day job after all — but, at the same time, I am unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all," Sheeran's statement read.

Ed Sheeran is speaking out in his first interview since his copyright infringement victory.  The English singer-songwriter was accused of copying music chords from Marvin Gaye's classic "Let's Get It On" in his 2014 hit song "Thinking Out Loud." Sheeran revealed what helped him win the jury over. "101 songs with the same chord sequence," he said during an appearance on "Good Morning America." "And that was just… scratching the surface," he pointed out.

Ed Sheeran’s – (Subtract) is already the UK’s fastest-selling album of 2023 so far on its journey to become the pop superstar’s sixth consecutive Number 1 album, the Official Charts Company can confirm. 

Ed Sheeran is surprising fans in Los Angeles and New York City!

Ed Sheeran has reflected on his recent high-profile plagiarism trial in a new TV interview.The pop star was found to have not copied Marvin Gaye‘s ‘Let’s Get It On’ for his 2014 Number One hit ‘Thinking Out Loud’, a US court ruled on Thursday (May 4).The case was brought against the pop star in 2016 by Ed Townsend – one of the co-writers on Gaye’s classic 1973 track – who accused Sheeran of copying the song on his 2014 hit.Earlier today (May 7), the singer appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to discuss his new album ‘–’ and the case.Of the controversy around the case, and why he felt it necessary to pursue victory on behalf of all songwriters, and to set a future precedent, Sheeran said: “There’s like four chords that get used in pop songs. And if you just think mathematically the likelihood of this song having the same chords as this song—there’s multiple, multiple songs—it’s all the same four chords … you are going to get this with every single pop song from now on.“Unless it just stops, which I don’t think it does because it’s a big money business to take things to court.

Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding are surging ahead for a fifth week at Number 1 with Miracle. It would become Ellie’s longest-running Number 1 single in the UK.

Ed Sheeran shed happy tears this week after winning his plagiarism case, which fought allegations that he ripped off part of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 song, Let’s Get It On, for his 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud.The singer, 32, who has battled and won court cases similar before, spoke spoke outside of a US courthouse while explaining his joy yet 'frustration' over the situation. Going on for years now, it was back in 2017 that singer Kathryn Townsend Griffin, the daughter of Ed Townsend, one of the co-writers on the Marvin Gaye track, filed a lawsuit against him in 2017.

Ed Sheeran celebrated a big court win Thursday after a jury found the "Bad Habits" singer-songwriter didn't copy Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in his own 2014 song, "Thinking Out Loud." Sheeran, 32, shared a statement on Instagram shortly after leaving the New York courthouse following his win.   "It’s all over, back to what I love doing," he captioned a video clip addressing the public.

Ed Sheeran did not copy Marvin Gaye‘s ‘Let’s Get It On’ for his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’, a US court ruled today (May 4).The case was brought against the pop star in 2016 by Ed Townsend – one of the co-writers on Gaye’s classic 1973 track – who accused Sheeran of copying the song on his 2014 hit.The accusations alleged that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the rhythm of the 1973 song, as well as an ascending four-chord sequence. The case also referenced “striking similarities” between the two tracks that violate the copyright.

Ed Sheeran has won a US copyright lawsuit which alleged he copied parts of Marvin Gaye’s hit song Let’s Get It On for his own track Thinking Out Loud.The lawsuit was officially filed in 2017 and claimed Ed had ripped off part of the classic Marvin Gaye song.The British musician was taken to court by the family of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer of the 1973 soul classic.They claimed that Sheeran’s 2014 song, written with collaborator Amy Wadge, bore “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” to Let’s Get It On.The trail in New York lasted for a week where Ed and the song's co-writer, Amy Wadge, gave evidence including several live singing performances. The singer explained that he had written the song when he was at home in England and that his grandparents were the inspiration behind the song, as well as a new romance which had just sparked around that time.

A federal jury in Manhattan has sided with Ed Sheeran in the plagiarism trial that saw the pop songwriter accused of stealing elements of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” in the writing of Sheeran’s 2014 track “Thinking Out Loud.” The suit was brought by heirs of the estate of Ed Townsend, a writer of “Let’s Get It On.” They contended that “Thinking Out Loud” used specific musical elements such as harmony and melody of “Let’s Get It On.” A video of Ed Sheeran performing a mash-up of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On” was used as evidence, though the singer testified that he and the song’s co-writer Amy Wadge were in fact inspired by Van Morrison’s music. Read Next: Ed Sheeran says he’ll retire from music if he loses Marvin Gaye plagiarism lawsuit Deliberations began on Wednesday (May 4) after the conclusion of the testimony.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Ed Sheeran was found not liable Thursday in Manhattan federal court on a copyright claim alleging that he lifted key elements from the Marvin Gaye ’70s hit “Let’s Get It On” for his own “Thinking Out Loud.” The verdict that found him not liable for copyright infringement came after just a few hours of deliberation Thursday. Standing outside the courtroom, Sheeran read a statement for reporters that made it clear how frustrated he felt at being accused of plagiarism and having the case reach trial. “It looks like I’m not going to have to give up my day job after all,” Sheeran said, alluding to a statement he’d made on the stand earlier this week suggesting that he would feel compelled to quit music if the verdict went against him.