Ed Sheeran Fights Innocence By Performing Live In Court
But, before we begin, can we take a moment to realize the fact that a judge and a jury got
Victoria Liotta
But, before we begin, can we take a moment to realize the fact that a judge and a jury got a free front row experience to Ed Sheeran performing music? The singer-songwriter is currently fighting a $100 million copyright case for his 2014 hit, “Thinking Out Loud.” The case was filed after alleged similarities have been recognized between his track and the popular 1973 track by Marvin Gaye, “Let’s Get It On.”
The Case Leading Up To His Performance
Structured Asset Sales claims that Sheeran’s track, “Thinking Out Loud,” uses melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, instrumental, and dynamic elements from Gaye’s song.
Back in September, a Manhatten federal judge paved the way for the lawsuit against Sheeran to be put into further action. Judge Louis Stanton said, “There is no bright-line rule that the combination of two unprotectable elements is insufficiently numerous to constitute an original work. A work may be copyrightable even though it is entirely a compilation of unprotectable elements.”
Ed Sheeran Sings For His Innocence
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On Thursday, Sheeran gave the court a tour of his development as a songwriter, writing one to two songs a day, and now writing eight to nine songs daily. He told the court, “If a song takes longer than a day, it’s not worth pursuing.”
Sheeran has always been candid about where his musical inspiration comes from, sharing with the judge and the jury that this week alone he wrote 10 songs about different life moments. Speaking about “Thinking Out Loud,” Sheeran explained that it was a “very collaborative” process between him and co-writer Amy Wedge. His inspiration for it came after he heard Wedge “mumbling” the chords and knew he needed to write a song to them.
The lyrics for the track were rooted in Sheeran’s grandad dying and his grandmother being diagnosed with cancer. As for Wedge, she was also dealing with a family illness at the time.
During the hearing, Sheeran carried on to sing the multiple versions of the track to showcase how it developed from start to finish, along with performing the opening chords on his guitar.
This story is still developing the verdict is yet to be told.