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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
David Is Going to Be a Grandpa!
1
Say Goodbye to Power Struggles With Kids
2
3 Bizarre Laws That Still Exist
Butternut Squash Risotto
3
USPS Allowed You to Mail Babies?!
Did Ed Sheeran Really Copy Marvin Gaye?
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SHEERAN VS. TOWNSEND: THE VERDICT IS IN Ed Sheeran Faces Accusations of Copying 'Let's Get It On'
During the court hearings, Sheeran attended in person and even performed live mashups of countless hit songs bearing similar chord progressions and rhythms. The musician’s testimony stated, “If I had 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.” On May 4, 2023, a jury found Sheeran not guilty of copying “Let’s Get It On,” and the songwriter was at last free from the lawsuit. Despite the longstanding legal dispute, Sheeran and the Townsend heirs resolved the issue amicably, as the trial had proved to the family that Sheeran did not intend to copy the hit classic. Ed Townsend’s daughter, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, later said, “I’m just glad it’s over,” and that the lawsuit was never personal but, instead, a result of her efforts to protect her father’s legacy.
The lawsuit was filed in July 2017 and was only resolved in 2023. Sheeran wasn’t being sued for outright copying the R&B classic but for replicating the “heart” of the song and the “harmonic progressions” and “melodic and rhythmic elements.” Of course, Sheeran denied these allegations and insisted that the song is based on common building blocks for all pop music, which are in no way legally protected. While Sheeran asserted this was merely a similarity many pop songs share, Townsend’s attorney and civil rights figure Ben Crump declared, “For far too long, Black artists have created, inspired, and spread music all around the world, and Ed Townsend’s family believes Mr. Sheeran’s infringement of a Black artist is merely another example of [white] artists exploiting the genius and the work of Black singers and songwriters.”
Sometimes, a song can feel similar to another, but when is it so similar that a songwriter needs to be sued? Well, Ed Sheeran faced the legal heat from the family of Ed Townsend after they claimed Sheeran’s hit song “Thinking Out Loud” was far too similar to Marvin Gaye’s classic song “Let’s Get It On,” which was written and composed by Townsend.
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