Joy for Ed Sheeran as he wins $100m copyright case

It’s official, Ed Sheeran did not rip off Marvin Gaye, a Manhattan jury has decided.

The high-profile case held in a Manhattan federal court was concluded today, Thursday, May 4, when the question of plagiarism was answered with an emphatic not-guilty verdict, according to The Daily Mail.

The $100 million copyright trial which centred around Sheeran’s hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ being stolen from Marvin Gaye‘s classic ‘Let’s Get It On’ was finally settled.

The 32-year-old singer-songwriter successfully proved to the court that he did not infringe copyright. When the verdict was announced Sheeran buried his face in his hands before standing up to hug his lawyer in relief.

The Yorkshire-born singer had vehemently denied that the song had been stolen, so much so, that he vowed that he would give up music if he was found guilty. Hence today’s verdict must also come as a massive relief to his many fans around the world.

Ilene Farkas acting on behalf of Sheeran said any similarities between the two songs were ‘the letters of the alphabet of music.’

‘These are basic musical building blocks that songwriters now and forever must be free to use, or all of us who love music will be poorer for it.’

The 1973 hit ‘Let’s Get It On,’ was co-written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend who died in 2003. The lawsuit was brought by Townsend’s heirs.

Representing the Townsend family, Keisha Rice, said ‘Mr. Sheeran is counting on you to be very, very overwhelmed by his commercial success,’ before urging jurors to use their ‘common sense.’

During the trial, Sheeran had previously said, ‘I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it.’

Last year in London, Sheeran successfully won another copyright case over his hit ‘Shape of You.’