![]() ![]() Sheeran subsequently took the stand on his own behalf to serenade the courtroom with a strummed rendition of “Thinking Out Loud,” singing what he said were the tune’s original lyrics: “I’m singing out now.” He told the jury that he’d written the tune, in Feb. Alexander Stewart claimed that the two songs shared a 70-percent “musical value,” comparing them with computer software. ![]() “It is my belief that most pop songs are built on building blocks that have been freely available for 100s of years.”Ī musicologist hired by Townsend’s legal team later testified that, in his opinion, the two songs “sound very, very similar.” Dr. “If I’d done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be an idiot to stand on stage in front of 20,000 people ,” Sheeran said Tuesday in response to the allegations. “The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of ‘Thinking’ are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of ‘Let’s.’” (The Townsend estate’s lawsuit was ultimately postponed in 2019 by the judge because he wanted to wait for the resolution of a similar case against Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.”)ĭuring the trial, with Sheeran on the witness stand, Townsend estate lawyer Ben Crump was questioned about “smoking gun” evidence: Concert footage where Sheeran merged the two songs during a show earlier that day, Crump described the mashup as a “confession.” “The Defendants copied the ‘heart’ of ‘Let’s’ and repeated it continuously throughout ‘Thinking,’” according to the 2016 lawsuit. In that trial, a jury awarded Gaye’s heirs $7.4 million at trial it was later trimmed to $5.3 million by the judge. ![]() The Gaye family was not involved in the lawsuit against Sheeran, though their successful lawsuit against Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” - which made similar arguments about authorship - loomed heavily over the proceedings. The verdict comes six years after the heirs of Ed Townsend - who co-wrote the 1973 song with Gaye - filed a lawsuit against Sheeran, alleging that it had “striking similarities” that violate the copyright. ![]()
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