Supreme Court rejects copyright challenge to Ed Sheeran's hit `Thinking Out Loud'
In a 2018 lawsuit that was dismissed, a company that owns partial rights to Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" claimed Ed Sheeran copied the song.
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will not be getting it on or thinking out loud.
The justices on June 16 rejected a copyright challenge to Ed Sheeran’s hit “Thinking Out Loud” brought by a partial owner to the rights of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic “Let’s Get It On.”
Lower courts found that the chord progression and harmonic rhythm in Gaye’s song is too commonplace to be legally protected.
“And no reasonable jury could find that the two songs, taken as a whole, are substantially similar in light of their dissimilar melodies and lyrics,” Judge Michael Park wrote for the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In fact, in a separate lawsuit brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, a co-writer of “Let’s Get It On,” a jury sided with Sheeran.
But Structured Asset Sales, which owns about 11% of the rights to Gaye’s song, argued that the lower courts incorrectly dismissed the second lawsuit.
The company said courts need to review actual recordings of Gaye’s song, not just the sheet music on record with the Copyright Office.
Because the appeals court said that wasn’t allowed under the Copyright Act of 1909, their review was limited to just two musical elements, lawyers for Structured Asset Sales argued.
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Attorneys for Sheeran said the appeals court were following the “unequivocal language” of the copyright law and its decision was consistent with how other appeals courts have ruled.
"Thinking Out Loud" won Sheeran his first two Grammy Awards, song of the year and best pop solo performance, in 2016. While presenting Sheeran with the song of the year award, Stevie Wonder praised the single, saying, "I told my daughter Aisha that this song was a great song when I first heard it — and it has won tonight."
Co-written by fellow British singer/songwriter Amy Wadge, "Thinking Out Loud" is one of Sheeran's longest reigning chart-toppers in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The single — released on his sophomore studio album, "x" ("multiply"), in 2014 — spent 58 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 2 in January 2015.