The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, New York has upheld the decision that Ed Sheeran had not copied Marvin Gaye’s iconic song ‘Let’s Get It On’ when writing ‘Thinking Out Loud’. The appeal decision follows the claim brought by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), who owns the rights to Gaye’s share of the song, in 2018, which was subsequently dismissed by US District Judge Stanton in May 2023. The dismissal was on the basis that a separate court, in a case brought by the heirs of Gaye’s co-writer Ed Townsend, had found that the musical elements allegedly copied were too common to be protected by copyright.
The Court of Appeals agreed with the District Judge, stating that Sheeran could not have infringed Let’s Get It On because the two songs were not similar enough. Further, the court stated that protecting the elements argued by SAS would stifle creativity.
In the original case, the court directed that only the written notes on the sheet music deposited into the US copyright register were part of the copyrighted material. Therefore, elements such as the song’s distinctive bassline, guitar and drum parts which were present in the sound recording were not protected by copyright. SAS argued that the sound recording should have been considered. However, the court rejected this argument.
This is not the first time Sheeran has been accused of infringing another artist’s copyright. In 2022, he won a case against Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue, who claimed he had copied their song ‘Oh Why’ by writing ‘Shape Of You’. Sheeran has previously stated that he was frustrated that baseless copyright claims are allowed to appear in court and that this type of claim is damaging to the music industry.
Following the decision, a representative from SAS stated that they are considering their options going forward. Therefore, we may see further litigation in respect of these songs.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
