Ed Sheeran, a British singer-songwriter, recently defeated a second copyright lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan over similarities between his hit “Thinking Out Loud” and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
US District Judge Louis Stanton dismissed the case filed by Structured Asset Sales LLC who ruled that the parts of “Let’s Get It On” that Sheeran was accused of infringing were too common for copyright protection.
Sheeran won a second jury trial in the same court earlier this month over the songs.
Stanton presided over both cases, which involved Gaye’s 1973 classic co-writer Ed Townsend’s share. Townsend’s heirs were unable to persuade jurors that Sheeran violated their portion of Townsend’s copyright in the song.
Structured Asset Sales is owned by investment banker and “Bowie Bonds” originator David Pullman, and it owns part of Townsend’s interest in “Let’s Get It On.” After Townsend’s heirs filed their complaint, it sued Sheeran, his label Warner song Group (WMG.O), and his song publisher Sony Music Publishing in 2018.
Stanton found on Tuesday that Gaye’s song’s blend of chord progression and harmonic rhythm was a “basic musical building block” that was too common to merit copyright protection.
Ilene Farkas, Sheeran’s attorney, termed the ruling “an important victory not only for Ed” and partner Amy Wadge, but “for all songwriters and music consumers.”
Structured Asset Sales has filed another lawsuit against Sheeran claiming ownership of Gaye’s recording, which is still pending.
According to Pullman, the jury in that case will hear the recording of “Let’s Get It On,” rather than the computerised rendering of the song’s sheet music from the Townsend trial.
“Their biggest fear, in terms of everything they’ve filed, has been to prevent the sound recording from coming in,” Pullman stated.
