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Ed Sheeran: He is said to have plagiarized his hit "Thinking Out Loud".
Photo: Valery Hache / AFP
Ed Sheeran is said to have stolen.
His hit "Thinking Out Loud" is said to be too reminiscent of Marvin Gaye's song "Let's Get It On" – for which the 31-year-old singer now has to answer in court in the USA, as several media reports.
A federal judge had therefore rejected efforts by the British singer to end the lengthy copyright dispute.
Four years ago, a company with shares in Gaye's song filed a lawsuit against the British singer, demanding a high sum of millions.
The lawsuit alleges that Thinking Out Loud copied several elements of Gaye's song without permission, including rhythms, harmonies, backing vocals and tempo.
The pop star's lawyers argued the lawsuit was invalid — because similar elements in the two songs weren't unique enough to be relevant to copyright issues, the reports said.
However, the district judge ruled that there was no hard and fast rule for such questions and that Sheeran had to face a jury.
"Although the two musical compositions are not identical, the jury may conclude that there is significant overlap between the chord progression and harmonic rhythm of the two songs," the judge said, as quoted by The Guardian.
The process should therefore take place in the New York district of Manhattan, but there is currently no date.
Should Sheeran lose out in court and be found to have violated the rights of the late musician, the proceeds from the concert tour could be claimed as damages, the judge said, as reported by several media outlets.
A California court ruled on a similar case in 2015, when singers Robin Thicke and Pharell Williams were accused of using Marvin Gaye's song "Got to Give It Up" for their hit "Blurred Lines".
The jury finally awarded Gaye's family $7.4 million in damages for copyright infringement and recognized Marvin Gaye as the songwriter of Blurred Lines.
Experience with copyright lawsuits
Ed Sheeran had enormous success with »Thinking Out Loud«.
The song made it to the top of the charts in several countries.
He recorded it in 2014 for his second studio album entitled »x«, which won Sheeran the Grammy for song of the year in 2015.
The 31-year-old already has experience with copyright lawsuits.
Sheeran was also sued for his hit song »Photograph«.
Two California songwriters accused him of stealing the chorus and 39 notes of their song "Amazing," which was released in 2012 by British talent show winner Matt Cardle.
The lawsuit was settled in 2017 with a settlement.
The hit "Shape of You" was also tried in court - Sheeran won this process.
The London High Court ruled that the 31-year-old did not plagiarize parts of the melody from another song.
The British singer was recently on the road in Germany.
Spontaneously he also performed at the Frankfurt Oktoberfest.
In leather trousers and with a beer mug in hand, the 31-year-old Brit stood on the stage and sang, as the organizer's videos on Instagram showed.
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