After a jury was selected on Monday, April 24, 2023 opening remarks were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 to a mashup of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
The heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer of the 1973 soul classic, sued Sheeran alIeging the English pop star’s hit 2014 tune has “striking similarities” to “Let’s Get It On” and “overt common elements” that vἰolate their copyright.
The trial for the complaint filed in 2017 has begun and it might continue for up to two weeks in the Manhattan federal courtroom of Judge Louis L. Stanton, who is 95 years old.
Although he was not there when jury selection began, Sheeran is one of the witnesses who will be giving testimony. Over the past 50 years, “Let’s Get It On” has been included in innumerable movies and commercials and has received hundreds of millions of listens online and on the radio.
“Thinking Out Loud,” which took home the Grammy for “Song of the Year” offers a more traditional view of wedlock and s*xuality. While the jury will hear both songs (perhaps several times), the words and overall feel of the music have no bearing on the case.
Juries are instructed to disregard any context and focus solely on the melody, harmony, and rhythm that make up “Let’s Get It On,” as evidenced by the sheet music submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
According to Sheeran’s legal team, the symmetry in the songs’ structures can only be traced back to the beginnings of popular music. They claimed:
“The two songs share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters.”
It was noted in the lawsuit filed by the Townsend family that artists such as Boyz II Men and Sheeran himself have done flawless mashups of the two songs with Sheeran transitioning into “Let’s Get It On” during live performances of “Thinking Out Loud.”
They wanted to show the jurors a potentially incriminating video of one of Sheeran’s performances. Stanton first ruled against their request to introduce it, but he later stated he might change his mind after hearing the other evidence.
Though Gaye’s estate is not directly engaged, it is likely that this case will mimic their 2013 victory over Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I. for plagiarism over the similarities between their hit “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s 1977 song “Got to Give it Up.”
One of the most important copyright issues in recent decades, a jury awarded Gaye’s heirs $7.4 million at trial (later reduced by the judge to $5.3 million).
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