Ed Sheeran has defended his songwriting in a New York court after it was alleged that he imitated Marvin Gaye’s song Let’s Get It On for his own hit ballad Thinking Out Loud.
The lawsuit Is being brought by the heirs of Gaye’s co-writer on Let’s Get It On, Ed Townsend, and was originally filed in 2017.
It alleges that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied an ascending four-chord sequence, and its rhythm.
Appearing in person on Tuesday, Sheeran testified that Thinking Out Loud was composed by himself and Wadge in a collaborative writing session, inspired by the love held between his grandparents.
Ben Crump, a lawyer for the plaintiffs (who has previously represented George Floyd’s family) argued that a video of Sheeran performing a live mashup of Thinking Out Loud with Let’s Get It On was “a confession” of plagiarism.
“Most pop songs can fit over most pop songs … You could go from Let it Be to No Woman, No Cry and switch back,”
Sheeran later counteredreferring to songs by the Beatles and Bob Marley.
Sheeran bristled at times at the questioning, saying: “If I had done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be a quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that.”
When cut off by lawyer Keisha Rice, he said: “I feel like you don’t want me to answer because you know that what I’m going to say is actually going to make quite a lot of sense.”
The suit claims Sheeran copied those elements and “repeated it continuously throughout ‘Thinking’ — this incontrovertible musical similarity has been observed by music industry professionals previously, as embodied by various social media and articles about the matter,” the suit claims.
Sheeran has denied the heirs’ allegations since the suit was filed on July 11, 2017.
