April 28, (THEWILL) – Edward Christopher Sheeran, the British pop star, also known as Ed Sheeran, sang and played the guitar on the witness stand during his copyright infringement trial on Thursday, in New York.
According to New York Times, Ed Sheeran played the basic four-chord progression of his Grammy-winning song, ‘Thinking Out Loud’, denying that it is a copy of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 soul classic ‘Let’s Get It On’.
He also sang what he said were his song’s original lyrics.
The lawsuit against Ed Sheeran was filed by heirs of Gaye, cowriter, Ed Townsend, who alleged that harmonic progressions and rhythmic elements of his 2014 song were lifted from the classic made famous by Gaye without permission.
The heirs are seeking a share of the profits from Ed Sheeran’s song.
Ed Sheeran said he writes most of his songs in a day, and noted that he cowrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’ with singer-songwriter, Amy Wadge, a regular partner.
The two wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’ at Sheeran’s home in February 2014.
“We sat guitar to guitar and we wrote together quite a lot”, he added.
Ed Sheeran added that he was coming out of the shower when he heard Wadge strumming some chords in another part of the house.
“I remember thinking, ‘We have to do something with that,’” he told the court.
The jurors must decide if Ed Sheeran’s song and Gaye’s classic are substantially similar and if their common elements are protected by copyright law.
According to New York times, a musicologist serving as a witness for the Townsend heirs testified that Ed Sheeran’s and Gaye’s songs use a nearly identical four-chord progression prompting Ed Sheeran to reach for his guitar.
Ed Sheeran played both the second major chord, which he said he’d played in every public performance, then a second minor chord used in ‘Let’s Get It On’. He said it worked well for Gaye, but not for his song.
The trial will resume on Monday, when Ed Sheeran is expected to testify further with or without his guitar.
