Ed Sheeran has been cleared of copyright infringement in a lawsuit brought against him by the estate of Marvin Gaye.
A federal jury in New York ruled on Thursday that Sheeran did not copy key components of Gaye’s classic 1970s track “Let’s Get It On” when he wrote his hit song “Thinking Out Loud.” Speaking after the verdict, Sheeran said he was “obviously very happy with the outcome of the case,” but also “unbelievably frustrated” that such “baseless claims” were allowed to go to court.
He argued that the four chords used in the two songs were “common building blocks” used by songwriters all over the world, and that unfounded claims like this were being fueled by individuals who were offered as music experts in musical analysis.
Sheeran thanked the jury for making a decision that would help songwriters in the United States and all around the world, and called for a trusted community of real experts to help support the process of protecting copyright.
