Ed Sheeran Wins Copyright Case Over Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’

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A US court has concluded that Ed Sheeran did not steal Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On when composing Thinking Out Loud.

The British musician had denied copying a portion of the song for his 2014 global hit.

Co-writer for Gaye's song Sheeran, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Publishing was accused of violating their copyright, according to the co-writers heirs.

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If convicted in the New York trial, Sheeran has threatened to end his musical career.

When questioned about the emotional toll the Manhattan federal court trial was having on him, he responded, "If that happens, I'm done, I'm stopping."

After the jury determined that Sheeran "independently" wrote his song, Sheeran reportedly got up and hugged his team.

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Sheeran declared that he was "obviously very happy" with the decision while speaking outside of court.

"It looks like I'm not going to have to retire from my day job after all," he told reporters.

"But at the same time, I am absolutely frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all."

"If the jury had decided this matter the other way we might as well say goodbye to the creative freedom of songwriters," he said.

The ability to produce original music "without worrying at every step on the way that said creativity will be wrongly called into question" is essential for artists, the speaker continued.

Sheeran performed and played guitar at the civil trial while performing portions of Thinking Out Loud.

He claimed that he wrote the song with his friend Amy Wadge at his home in England and that his grandparents and a just-started romantic connection served as inspiration.

Ilene Farkas, Sheeran's attorney, explained to the jury that the two songs' similar chord progressions and rhythms 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," she said.

The heirs of Gaye's co-writer Ed Townsend are being represented by Keisha Rice. Keisha Rice explained that her clients are not claiming ownership of the fundamental components of music, but rather "the way in which these common elements were uniquely combined."

She urged the jury to apply "common sense" to determine if the songs are comparable, saying that Ed Sheeran "is counting on you to be very, very overwhelmed by his commercial success."

At the High Court in London last year, Sheeran prevailed in a copyright dispute involving his 2017 song Shape of You.

A business owned by investment banker David Pullman that has copyright interests in the Gaye song is suing Sheeran over his song Thinking Out Loud.

Gaye's heirs won a $5.3 million verdict in 2015 after suing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, claiming their song Blurred Lines plagiarized Gaye's Got to Give It Up.