A copyright trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom pitting Ed Sheeran against the heirs of a co-writer of Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” saw the pop star taking the stand Tuesday, offering strong retorts to attorneys’ arguments that he had stolen elements of the 1970s hit for his own “Thinking Out Loud.”
One piece of evidence that the judge had left in limbo in pre-trial hearings was a fan-shot video of Sheeran mashing up the two songs in concert in 2014. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, who had previously left the matter of whether to allow the medley unresolved, ultimately ruled Tuesday that a 30-second clip be played, despite Sheeran’s attorneys’ argument that it was “irrelevant and prejudicial.”
Ben Crump and Keisha Rice — representing the heirs of Ed Townsend, Gaye’s credited co-writer on “Let’s Get It On” — alternately called the video “a smoking gun” and “a confession” in an opening statement and subsequent examination of Sheeran.
Retorted Sheeran, per an account of the testimony from Reuters: “I mash up songs at lots of gigs. Many songs have similar chords. You can go from ‘Let It Be’ to ‘No Woman No Cry’ and switch back. And quite frankly, if I’d done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that.”
One basis for attempting to keep the video out of evidence is that under the guiding rules of the case, jurors are only supposed to consider the specific, basic building blocks of the musical compositions, as found in sheet music, and not whether the two songs share a similar vibe or feel in performance.
Sheeran drew laughs from the courtroom, according to NBC News, by saying that he had not heard “Let’s Get It On” until it appeared in the 1999 “Austin Powers” movie. He said that his associates told him that “Thinking Out Loud” reminded them of the style of a different singer: Van Morrison. Rather than threatening to sue, Morrison, in a hotel meeting, told Sheeran that he “liked” the younger artist’s tune, according to Sheeran’s testimony.
Before the video medley was played, the judge told the seven jury members, “We don’t allow dancing,” according to Reuters, which did not elaborate on whether the comment was in jest or serious.
Sheeran’s attorney, Ilene Farkas, said in opening statements that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge had written a song that used “exceedingly common musical building blocks… Plaintiffs do not own them, because nobody does. All songwriters draw from this same basic toolkit,” she argued, per Billboard.
Plaintiff Kathryn Townsend Griffin, Ed Townsend’s daughter, testified prior to Sheeran and insisted that she was not a “copyright troll,” suggesting that attempts at a settlement had been rebuffed. “I want you to know that it did not have to come to this,” said Griffin. “But I had to protect my father’s legacy.”
Sheeran is expected to testify once more as the trial proceeds.
