British singer Ed Sheeran has appeared in a New York City court to deny that his song Thinking Out Loud copied Marvin Gaye\u2019s song \u2018Let\u2019s Get It On\u2019.<\/p>\n
Heirs of Gaye\u2019s co-writer, Ed Townsend, argue that Sheeran, Warner Group and Sony Publishing owe them money for allegedly stealing the song.<\/p>\n
As the case opened, their lawyer called Sheeran\u2019s use of lyrics from Gaye\u2019s song at his concerts a \u201csmoking gun\u201d.<\/p>\n
But he said he\u2019d \u201cbe quite an idiot\u201d to do that if he had copied the song.<\/p>\n
Asked by lawyer Keisha Rice about another song he wrote, Take it Back, which contains the lyrics \u201cplagiarism is hidden\u201d, Sheeran confirmed that he had written the words.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are my lyrics, yep,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cCan I give some context to them?\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that if she wanted any context she would ask for it, and went on to ask him about concert footage recorded in Zurich showing him mixing lyrics from Gaye\u2019s 1973 song with Thinking Out Loud.<\/p>\n Earlier, another lawyer for the family \u2013 civil rights advocate Ben Crump \u2013 told the court that the concert video amounted to a \u201csmoking gun\u201d confession.<\/p>\n Sheeran responded that he sometimes mixed together songs with similar chords at his performances, and appeared to grow frustrated when Ms Rice cut him off.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like you don\u2019t want me to answer because you know that what I\u2019m going to say is actually going to make quite a lot of sense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could go from Let It Be to No Woman, No Cry and switch back,\u201d Sheeran continued under oath, referring to the Beatles and Bob Marley classics.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had done what you\u2019re accusing me of doing, I\u2019d be a quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that.\u201d<\/p>\n In his opening statement, Mr Crump \u201crecognised the magic\u201d of Gaye\u2019s song and \u201cdecided to capture a bit of that magic for his own benefit\u201d.<\/p>\n As the trial began on Tuesday, US District Judge Louis Stanton warned the seven-member jury that despite the fact that music will be played in court: \u201cWe don\u2019t allow dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n The trial is expected to last at least one week. If the jury finds the pop star liable for copyright infringement, the trial will enter a second phase to determine how much he owes.<\/p>\n The court case comes as the singer prepares to launch a North American stadium tour and release a new album.<\/p>\n![\"Mr](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/_129501355_f82c0b38d4faf8aac3ff3cebf976c8a6064eadef0_0_3642_24281000x667.jpg\" "\\"Ed")