Recording artist Ed Sheeran prepares to speak to the media outside New York Federal Court after wining his copyright infringement trial, Thursday, May 4, 2023, in New York. A federal jury concluded that Sheeran didn't steal key components of Marvin Gaye’s classic 1970s tune “Let’s Get It On” when he created his hit song “Thinking Out Loud.” (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Ed Sheeran is ‘vrijgesproken’ van plagiaat. De zanger werd aangeklaagd omdat hij Marvin Gaye’s ‘Lets Get It On’ zou hebben gebruikt voor ‘Thinking Out Loud’.
De jury in Manhattan kwam na een kleine drie uur tot dat oordeel. Ed Townsend, de co-writer voor de Marvin Gaye classic, had de zaak in 2017 aangespannen.
“I’m obviously very happy with the outcome of the case and it looks like I’m not having to retire from my day job after all,” zegt Ed Sheeran buiten de rechtszaal. “But at the same time, I’m unbelievably frustrated that baseless claims like this are allowed to go to court at all.”
Townsend zegt het oordeel van de jury te respecteren. “I stood up for my father’s intellectual properties. I was up against an army.”
Tijdens de zaak werden beelden getoond van Ed Sheeran die een mashup maakte van twee nummers. Townsends advocaat Ben Crump liet hiermee volgens hemzelf een ‘bekentenis’ zien van Ed.
“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 [and do that],” zei Ed Sheeran daarop. “It is my belief that most pop songs are built on building blocks that have been freely available for 100s of years.”
