Ed Sheeran wins 'Thinking Out Loud' copyright trial case

Shape of You singer Ed Sheeran won the copyright trial case on Thursday which alleged that he plagiarized the Marvin Gaye hit Lets Get It On for his Thinking Out Loud songAccording to Variety a USbased media house after just a few hours of discussion on Thursday the jury issued a decision clearing him of copyright infringement capping a case that lasted just under two weeksSheeran gave a statement to the media outside the courthouse in which he expressed his frustration at being charged with plagiarism and having the case go to trialSheeran said I am obviously very happy with the outcome of the case and it looks like Im not going to have to retire from my day job after allAlluding to a probably exaggerated comment he had made earlier this week on the witness stand that if the verdict was against him he would feel obligated to stop playing music 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 songwritersI am just a guy with a guitar who loves writing music for people to enjoy I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake he addedSheeran told reporters that having to be in New York for the trial had prevented him from attending his grandmothers funeral in Ireland and that he had been forced to skip it because of the case Its not time I can get back On Wednesday the funeral was heldWe need songwriters and the larger musical community to unite to restore common sense Sheeran concluded in his closing remarks So that the creative process may continue and we can all return to making music these claims must be refuted At the same time we are in dire need of dependable professionals who can support the procedure and defend copyrightAs per Variety report Sheeran and his cowriter on Thinking Out Loud Amy Wadge who was not named as a defendant in the suit both testified during the trial that they had written the song quickly in a spontaneous afternoon session without any discussion of Lets Get It On prompted by thinking about older relatives and the topic of having love last into old age Similarities in lyrics or melody were not alleged by the plaintiffsEarlier this week Sheeran had claimed in testimony that he would quit the industry if found guilty He said If that happens Im done Im stopping I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish itTo prove that Georgy Girl was one of many songs that predated Lets Get It On that used the same chords and rhythm as the Gaye and Sheeran hits the defence had called a musicologist who played orchestral recordings of the 1960s pop hit for the jury on Wednesday An counsel representing the Townsend heirs argued during crossexamination that the chords must be extremely uncommon if a song that was meant to be obscure was being used to support their widespread use Although Sheerans lawyer argued that Georgy Girl and the other songs were obscure he added that What matters is that LGO Lets Get It On did not do it firstThe decision will boost Sheerans career because both his new album and a Disney documentary series are being released this weekThe jurys decision is expected to be welcomed by the entire music industry as many believed that a previous case that went the other way a lawsuit alleging that Robin Thickes hit song Blurred Lines had violated Marvin Gayes copyright for Got to Give It Up would have a chilling effect on songwriters using their creativity especially if further such lawsuits went against songwriters Despite the fact that both cases involved Gaye songs the plaintiffs and solicitors were different in each caseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever