Ed Sheeran Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Courtroom

Pop star Ed Sheeran is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit in a Manhattan federal courtroom. The lawsuit, filed by the heirs of Marvin Gaye’s co-writer of the song “Let’s Get It On”, claims that Sheeran’s hit “Thinking Out Loud” violates the copyright of the soul classic.

At the start of the civil trial, attorney Ben Crump said that they had “smoking gun” proof that Sheeran’s song was a copy of the 1973 hit. Crump said that the case was about “giving credit where credit is due” and that merging the two songs was tantamount to “a confession.”

Sheeran was called to the stand to face questioning by Keisha Rice, an attorney for the heirs of Ed Townsend. During questioning, Sheeran said he had done a live mash-up of the two songs during a stage performance that was captured on video.

The lawsuit claims that Sheeran’s song has “striking similarities” to the classic and shares “overt common elements” with the classic. The jury will get to see the concert footage showing Sheeran flipping between the two songs.

The trial is ongoing and the outcome is yet to be determined. It is unclear what the implications of the trial will be for Sheeran and the heirs of Ed Townsend.