Ed Sheeran Sued for US$100 M Over Allegedly Copying Marvin Gaye Hit

Popular British singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran was sued on Thursday for at least US$100 million for allegedly committing copyright infringement for his phenomenal hit song Thinking Out Loud.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ed Sheeran Sued for $100 Mil for Ripping Off Marvin Gaye in &#39;Thinking Out Loud&#39; <a href="https://t.co/QbIpzbGf9v">https://t.co/QbIpzbGf9v</a></p>&mdash; TMZ (@TMZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/1012328004876304385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The lawsuit accuses Sheeran of copying significant parts of Marvin Gaye’s classic Let’s Get It On for Thinking Out Loud. The suit alleges that Thinking Out Loud copies the "melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping" of Let's Get It On, which hit No. 1 in September 1973.

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Thinking Out Loud peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2015.

The suit was filed by a David Pullman company. Pullman is an investment banker who arranged in 1997 the pioneering US$55 million sale of Bowie Bonds, responsible for making David Bowie the first musician to sell bonds backed by royalties from his catalogue.

Pullman said three musicologists compared the songs independently and found them "substantially or strikingly similar", a legal standard used to determine infringement

Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the Atlantic record label were also named as defendants in the suit.

Previously, the defendants have denied any infringement in a related lawsuit filed by heirs of the late producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Let's Get It On with Gaye. Pullman's company, Structured Asset Sales LLC, owns one-third of Townsend's estate.

The 27-year-old Sheeran has earlier faced infringement claims over other songs, including Photograph, and Shape Of You.

There are those who defend Sheeran on social media against the allegations.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Marvin Gaye&#39;s family are vultures. This is the second time they&#39;ve sued someone for &quot;stealing&quot; from him. Ed Sheeran&#39;s &#39;Thinking Out Loud&#39; doesn&#39;t even sound close to Let&#39;s Get It On. <br>$100 million dollars? Did you blow the money from the Blurred Lines lawsuit already?</p>&mdash; Murphy Two Times (@Murphy2x) <a href="https://twitter.com/Murphy2x/status/1012384837435568134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What form or fashion does it sound like a Marvin Gaye song ?</p>&mdash; katrina stokes (@NursStokes) <a href="https://twitter.com/NursStokes/status/1012335255871729669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I don’t hear it! Sounds like some one looking for $$$<br>I love both songs and enjoy both artists . Stop and enjoy the music </p>&mdash; Tanya Lamarr Jackman (@tanyalamarr) <a href="https://twitter.com/tanyalamarr/status/1012349511287623680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Source:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/ed-sheeran-sued-us-100-million-for-copying-marvin-gaye-hit-10482422?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter