Factz

Ed Sheeran Ripped Off Marvin Gaye? Lawsuit Aims to Settle it Once and For All

Ed Sheeran may not have been thinking when he ripped pieces from Marvin Gaye’s mega-hit “Let’s Get It On” for his hit single, “Thinking Out Loud.”

At least, that’s what a lawsuit claims.

A federal judge says that Sheeran must face a jury trial over whether or not he stole pieces of Gaye’s hit song, despite efforts from Sheeran’s team to have the lawsuit tossed out. The case was filed by someone who owns a partial stake in Gaye’s song. Judge Louis Stanton said Thursday that there’s “no bright-line rule” for determining how familiar something has to be under copyright laws and that Sheeran will need to make his argument in court. In his order, Stanton wrote, “There is no bright-line rule that the combination of two unprotectable elements is insufficiently numerous to constitute an original work. Work may be copyrightable even though it is entirely a compilation of unprotectable elements.”

According to Sheeran’s legal team, the lawsuit is invalid because the combo of “simple elements” they allegedly stole was not unique enough to fall under copyright infringement.

This is not the first time the crooner has had to duke it out over a copyright lawsuit; he recently won a lawsuit claiming “Shape Of You” violated copyright law. Sheeran said that “lawsuits are not a pleasant experience.”

Unfortunately for Sheeran, he seems to be in the “Bad Habits” of stepping on toes.