A jury will now decide whether British singer-songwriter Ed
Sheeran ripped off Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” after hearing closing
arguments on Wednesday in a week-long copyright trial.
Sheeran’s lawyer, Ilene Farkas, told the jurors in Manhattan
federal court that similarities in the chord progressions and rhythms of Gaye’s
classic and Sheeran’s hit “Thinking Out Loud” were “the letters of the alphabet
of music.”
“These are basic musical building blocks that songwriters
now and forever must be free to use, or all of us who love music will be poorer
for it,” she said.
Keisha Rice, who represents heirs of Gaye’s co-writer Ed
Townsend suing Sheeran and his record label, said her clients were not claiming
to own basic musical elements but rather “the way in which these common
elements were uniquely combined.”
“Mr. Sheeran is counting on you to be very, very overwhelmed
by his commercial success,” she said, urging jurors to use their “common sense”
to decide whether the songs are similar.
The jurors were sent home shortly after closing arguments
and will return on Thursday morning to deliberate.
Townsend’s heirs in 2017 sued Sheeran, his label Warner
Music Group and his music publisher Sony Music Publishing, claiming
infringement of their copyright interest in the Gaye song.
Sheeran and his co-writer, Amy Wadge, both testified during
the trial that they did not copy “Let’s Get It On.” Sheeran said he had only
passing familiarity with the song and that “Thinking Out Loud” was inspired by
Irish musician Van Morrison.
Gaye, who died in 1984, collaborated with Townsend, who died
in 2003, to write “Let’s Get It On,” which topped the Billboard charts in 1973.
“Thinking Out Loud” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2015.
Sheeran is also facing claims over “Thinking Out Loud” in
the same court from a company owned by investment banker David Pullman that
holds copyright interests in the Gaye song.
Sheeran won a trial in London last year in a separate
copyright case over his hit “Shape of You.”
Gaye’s heirs in 2015 won a $5.3 million judgment from a
lawsuit claiming the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song “Blurred Lines”
copied Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”
Source - Reuters
-Agencies
