Musician Ed Sheeran has threatened to stop performing if he is found guilty of copying his popular song “Thinking Out Loud.” The 32-year-old is being sued by the estate of Ed Townsend, who wrote the song “Let’s Get It On” with singer Marvin Gaye in 1973.
Although Mr. Sheeran is accused of ripping off the Gaye song, he has refuted the accusation. The performer claimed he found the accusations “really insulting.” I’m not going to swear, the musician declared at the court hearing on Monday 1 May.
The daughter of Ed Townsend, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, alleges that Ed Sheeran imitated the well-known song when writing his 2014 number-one single, “Thinking Out Loud.”
As per reports, Ms. Griffin claimed there are “overt common elements” and “striking similarities” between the two tracks that breach their copyright.
Denying the accusation, the British singer-songwriter claimed that if the jury did convict him, he would be “done” with music.
According to the source, Ed Sheeran told his lawyer Irene Farkas:
“If that happens, I’m done, I’m stopping. I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it,”
The heirs of Mr. Townsend are asking for $100 million in compensation.
Last week, attorneys for Mr. Townsend’s heirs showed a video of Ed Sheeran seamlessly switching between the songs “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On” during a live performance, which they claimed amounted to a confession that he had plagiarized the song.
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However, Mr. Sheeran claimed that he frequently performs these “mash-ups” with other artists and that he has previously mixed Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” with his song “Thinking Out Loud.”
Additionally, he claimed that when an expert witness for the heirs transposed his song, the chords and melody had been changed to sound more like “Let’s Get It On.” The amount of the damages will be decided in a second trial if Mr. Sheeran is found to be at fault, according to Reuters.
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