Ed Sheeran marks huge success in copyright appeal

A federal appeals court ruled that Ed Sheeran did not infringe on the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic Let’s Get It On with his 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud.

According to Reuters, the decision, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday November 1.

Moreover, the court found that the similarities between the two songs were limited to “fundamental musical building blocks” that cannot be copyrighted.

Additionally, in the ruling, the judges stated that the four-chord progression and syncopated rhythm present in Sheeran’s song are commonly used elements in pop music and therefore, cannot meet the originality requirement of copyright law.

As per Billboard, “Overprotecting such basic elements would threaten to stifle creativity and undermine the purpose of copyright law.”

Furthermore, this ruling dismissed an infringement lawsuit filed by Structured Asset Sales (SAS), a company that owns a portion of the rights to Let’s Get It On.

As per the reports of People, the lawsuit argued that the Perfect hitmaker’s song copied chord progressions and rhythms from Gaye’s track.

It is worth mentioning that Sheeran was previously cleared of infringement in a trial that concluded in May 2023. 

In regards to the case, the Shape Of You singer stated, "I feel like the truth was heard and the truth was believed. It's nice that we can both move on with our lives now, it's sad that it had to come to this."