Ed Sheeran faces Marvin Gaye plagiarism lawsuit in the US

A highly anticipated copyright case between Ed Sheeran and Marvin Gaye’s co-writer’s daughter, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, is set to begin in a Manhattan federal courtroom today. Sheeran, who denies the allegations, is expected to take the stand during the trial. The jury will determine whether parts of Gaye’s 1973 song “Let’s Get It On” were copied in Sheeran’s 2014 Grammy-winning hit “Thinking Out Loud.” In the past, Sheeran had acknowledged similarities between the two songs, and video clips of him blending both tracks during a concert may become part of the evidence in court. Gaye’s estate received around $5 million in 2018 when a judge ruled similarities between “Blurred Lines,” by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, and Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” constituted copyright infringement. Sheeran has previously faced similar allegations and settled a £16 million lawsuit over his song “Photograph” in 2017. Despite winning a High Court copyright trial against two songwriters who claimed he copied their work for his 2017 hit “Shape Of You,” Sheeran has called frivolous copyright claims “really damaging to the songwriting industry.” This most recent case is expected to last a week.