Ed Sheeran is being sued for allegedly plagiarizing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” for his hit “Thinking Out Loud,” TMZ reports.
Sheeran was named in a lawsuit filed by Structured Asset Sales, which claims that the singer’s 2014 song uses the same melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bassline, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping from Gaye’s 1973 track.
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Sheeran’s labels, the song’s co-writer Amy Wadge and producer Jake Gosling are also named as defendants in the suit, The Wrap reports.
“Thinking Out Loud,” from Sheeran’s 2014 album X, became a massive hit for the star, and has sold more than 15 million copies. Its music video has over two billion views on YouTube and the song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Record, Best Performance and Song of the Year in 2016.
“Let’s Get It On” is one of Gaye’s best-known songs and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.
Structured Asset Sales owns one-third of the copyright to “Let’s Get It On” and is suing Sheeran for $100 million.
“Let’s Get It On” was written by Gaye and Edward Townsend, both of whom have passed away. In 2016, Townsend’s heirs also sued Sheeran for allegedly ripping off the song for “Thinking Out Loud.”
Sheeran responded to the suit, claiming that the only reason for the similarities between the two songs is because the chord progressions and drum patterns are “extremely commonplace,” according to documents obtained by TMZ.
He said that there are no similarities between the vocals and song structures and that the elements that are similar cannot be protected because they are public domain elements.
The Gaye family is not currently involved in the new lawsuit against Sheeran, though they have been involved in a similar case previously, having gone to court with Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. over perceived similarities’ between the artists’ joint track “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”
Gaye’s family won that case and was awarded over $7 million in damages in 2015.
Sheeran was also recently sued for copyright infringement over his song “Photograph,” with two songwriters claiming that track was strikingly similar to one they had written for X Factor winner Matt Cardle. The case was settled privately out of court and Sheeran added two credited songwriters to “Photograph.”
The British hitmaker is also currently involved in a lawsuit over “The Rest of Our Life,” which he co-wrote and was recorded by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Photo Credit: Getty / Kevin Mazur
