“LET’S GET IT ON” LOSES TO ED SHEERAN
Ed Sheeran wins copyright case claiming damages against Marvin Gaye's LET'S GET IT ON
By Ruthie DiTucci
Ed Sheeran has won a lawsuit related to his song “Thinking Out Loud” which was filed by the cowriter of “What’s Going On” in court. The family of Marvin Gaye’s cowriter, Ed Townsend, sued Sheeran in 2017, claiming that the two songs had enough similarities to violate copyright laws. However, on May 5, 2023 a federal jury in New York City decided that his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud” doesn’t copy Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic “Let’s Get It On.”
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George Harrison and the Chiffons had a case where the Chiffons claimed that Harrison’s song “My Sweet Lord” infringed on their song “He’s So Fine.” Harrison lost the case and had to pay damages.
Vanilla Ice was sued by Queen and David Bowie for using the bass line from their song “Under Pressure” in his song “Ice Ice Baby.” Ice settled the case out of court.
Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I.’s song “Blurred Lines” was accused of copying the style and feel of Marvin Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up” from 1977. The case resulted in a $5 million settlement in favor of Gaye’s estate. Listen to this video below where a verse is played from each song “together” and you can barely tell they are different songs because the similarity between both songs are so close.
Images above: Robin Thicke and wife and Pharrell Williams and wife Images Sourced by Shutterstock licensed to SyndicatedNews
In 2013, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were sued by Marvin Gaye’s family for their song “Blurred Lines” which was claimed to have infringed on the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give it Up.” In 2015, a jury found Thicke and Williams liable for copyright infringement and ordered them to pay nearly $7.4 million to Gaye’s heirs.
