Sometimes court cases can turn very musical that is what happened in the case of Marvin Gaye’s copyright against Ed Sheeran. The singer-songwriter has to play the chord progression and sing the track ‘Thinking Out Loud’ at the Manhattan federal court on Thursday. He had to do that during the trial in order to show the fact that he didn’t copy Marvin Gaye’s hit classic ‘Let’s Get it On.’
While testifying as the first witness in his own defense in a courtroom full of people, the British singer tried to express the process of writing the song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ which is about everlasting love, released in 2014. He said it was a reference to his personal life as he go involved in a new romantic relationship after the death of his grandfather.
Sheeran said, “I draw inspiration from a lot of things in my life and family.” He further expressed that the song was inspired by the love shared by his grandparents that he has observed from childhood.
This 32-year-old British music artist is sued by the family of Ed Townsend, who was the co-writer for Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit track. Townsend’s heirs are quite desperate and seeking a fair share of profits gained from ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by claiming that the syncopated chord progression in a song is taken from ‘Let’s Get It On.’
Sheeran on the other hand explained how his friend and collaborator Amy Wadge started making the song during a visit to his home in England. It started with strumming the chords and gradually proceed to lyrics. He said, that it started with the phrase “I’m singing out now” which later turned into “I’m thinking out loud” and became its title. Sheeran said, “When I write vocal melodies, it’s like phonetics.”
In order to establish his statement, Sheeran picked up his guitar, played the chord progression, and started singing, “When your legs don’t work like they used to.” While talking about the songwriting process, he explained how fast he is at his craft and most of his songs took less than a day to write.
In response to the copyright, Sheeran said, “Most pop songs can fit over most pop songs … if I had done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that.”
The trial was interrupted by Kathryn Griffin Townsend being faint in court just before Sheeran’s team wanted to cross-examine her. The trial is expected to resume on Monday.
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