A US judge has found that there are “substantial similarities” between Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and Marvin Gaye’s iconic 1973 hit ‘Let’s Get It On’.
District Judge Louis Stanton rejected a request from Sheeran to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Judge Stanton wrote in his decision, which was released on Thursday, that he had found “substantial similarities between several of the two works’ musical elements,” including both song’s percussion and bass lines.
Stanton also noted to jurors that they “may be impressed by footage of a Sheeran performance which shows him seamlessly transitioning between [both songs]” – check out the video below to see the comparison.
A jury will now decide if the British singer copied Marvin Gaye while writing his global hit, therefore owing payment to the heirs of the track’s co-writer Ed Townsend, who initially filed the suit.
Sheeran faces a second lawsuit from a company that owns one-third of Towsend’s estate, Structured Asset Sales LLC, who are seeking $100 million in damages from the singer.
Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke were ordered to pay $5 million last month after a judge ruled that their 2013 hit ‘Blurred Lines’ infringed the copyright on ‘Got To Give It Up’, another track from Gaye.
In 2017, Sheeran settled another copyright infringement lawsuit, resulting in him crediting the writers of TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’ on his song ‘Shape of You’.
Photo by DFree Shutterstock
