MUSIC

"Thinking Out Loud": Ed Sheeran on trial for plagiarism in Manhattan

British singer Ed Sheeran is currently on trial in Manhattan on charges of intentional copyright infringement. Specifically, the accusation is that the 32-year-old artist, with an estimated fortune of USD 200 million, copied Marin Gaye's 1973 song 'Let's get it on'.

The pop star has rejected the accusations, also explaining the creative process that led him to compose 'Thinking Out Loud', the song that according to the prosecution resulted from the plagiarism, and which is still one of Ed Sheeran's biggest hits.

The author himself allegedly brought a guitar into the courtroom, trying to explain his creative process. This trial is expected to last about a week. If he is found guilty of plagiarism, the second phase will be the counting of damages.

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"Thinking Out Loud": Ed Sheeran on trial for plagiarism in Manhattan
British singer Ed Sheeran is currently on trial in Manhattan on charges of intentional copyright infringement. Specifically, the accusation is that the 32-year-old artist, with an estimated fortune of USD 200 million, copied Marin Gaye's 1973 song 'Let's get it on'. The pop star has rejected the accusations, also explaining the creative process that led him to compose 'Thinking Out Loud', the song that according to the prosecution resulted from the plagiarism, and which is still one of Ed Sheeran's biggest hits. The author himself allegedly brought a guitar into the courtroom, trying to explain his creative process. This trial is expected to last about a week. If he is found guilty of plagiarism, the second phase will be the counting of damages.
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Ed Sheeran accused of plagiarism
The 32-year-old British singer Ed Sheeran has been accused of plagiarism, and is facing trial these days in New York. The pop star is accused of plagiarising part of the song 'Thinking Out Loud', allegedly taken from Marin Gaye,and specifically from the track 'Let's get it on'.
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Ed Sheeran denies all the allegations
The singer, however, denied all the accusations during the hearing, talking about his creative process and how he came to compose this specific song, aided by Amy Wadge. Ed Sheeran allegedly went so far as to intone a few chords of the song in court, accompanying it with the line 'I'm not the most talented guitarist in the world'.
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The creative process of "Thinking Out Loud"
Sheeran recounted that during a brainstorming session for the creation of the song he said: 'I'm singing out now', which then became the title of the song with a change of words: 'Thinking out loud'. The musician also said that the song was inspired by the mutual love that united his grandparents and the recent death of his grandfather.
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Who is accusing Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran has been accused of plagiarism by the heirs of the co-writer of Marvin Gaye's song 'Let's set it on', Ed Townsend. The lawyer defending their interests is called Ben Crump, who has already claimed to have 'damning accusations and evidence' against the British pop star.
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How is the process composed
According to US newspapers, the trial is expected to last one week. The jury will not consider the lyrics of 'Let's Get It On', but will have to take into account the basic elements of the song's melody and rhythm and decide whether the overlap between the songs' combination of chord progression and harmonic rhythm is similar enough to be considered plagiarism.
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The defense of the British pop star
A deposition by defence lawyers, reported in the press, claims that "the two songs share versions of a similar, unprotected chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters". Paraphrasing, this means that the guitar chords are free, and are not protected by any law. Furthermore, for anyone who knows or enjoys music, it is quite obvious that it is possible to enter two songs written in the same key. Ed Sheeran himself said: 'It's easy to get in and out of songs if they're in the same key. You can go from "Let It Be" by The Beatles to "No Woman, No Cry" by Bob Marley".
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It happened before
The British singer is no stranger to accusations of plagiarism. In fact, just a year ago, Sheeran won a copyright fight in the UK over his 2017 hit 'Shape of You', and it was this that he criticised for what he described as a 'culture' of baseless lawsuits intended to squeeze money out of artists eager to avoid the expense of a trial.
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