Jury selection and opening statements are set to begin Monday in a trial that mashes up B次元官网网址淭hinking Out LoudB次元官网网址� with B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 Get It On.B次元官网网址�
The heirs of Ed Townsend, GayeB次元官网网址檚 co-writer of the 1973 soul classic, sued Sheeran, alleging the English pop starB次元官网网址檚 hit 2014 tune has B次元官网网址渟triking similaritiesB次元官网网址� to B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 Get It OnB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渙vert common elementsB次元官网网址� that violate their copyright.
The lawsuit filed in 2017 has finally made it to a trial that is expected to last a week in the Manhattan federal courtroom of 95-year-old Judge Louis L. Stanton.
Sheeran, 32, is among the witnesses expected to testify.
is the quintessential, sexy slow jam thatB次元官网网址檚 been heard in countless films and commercials and garnered hundreds of millions of streams, spins and radio plays over the past 50 years. which won a Grammy for song of the year, is a much more marital take on love and sex.
While the jury will hear the recordings of both songs, probably many times, their lyrics B次元官网网址� and vibes B次元官网网址� are legally insignificant. Jurors are supposed to only consider the raw elements of melody, harmony and rhythm that make up the composition of B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 Get It On,B次元官网网址� as documented on sheet music filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
SheeranB次元官网网址檚 attorneys have said the songsB次元官网网址� undeniable structural symmetry points only to the foundations of popular music.
B次元官网网址淭he two songs share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters,B次元官网网址� they said in a court filing.
Townsend family attorneys pointed out in the lawsuit that artists including Boyz II Men have performed seamless mashups of the two songs, and that even Sheeran himself has segued into B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 Get It OnB次元官网网址� during live performances of B次元官网网址淭hinking Out Loud.B次元官网网址�
They sought to play a potentially damning YouTube video of one such Sheeran performance for the jury at trial. Stanton denied their motion to include it, but said he would reconsider it after he sees other evidence thatB次元官网网址檚 presented.
GayeB次元官网网址檚 estate is not involved in the case, though it will inevitably have echoes of their successful lawsuit against , and T.I. over the resemblance of their 2013 hit B次元官网网址淏lurred LinesB次元官网网址� to GayeB次元官网网址檚 1977 B次元官网网址淕ot to Give it Up.B次元官网网址�
at trial B次元官网网址� later B次元官网网址� making it among the most in recent decades.
SheeranB次元官网网址檚 label Atlantic Records and Sony/ATV Music Publishing are also named as defendants in the B次元官网网址淭hinking Out LoudB次元官网网址� lawsuit. Generally, plaintiffs in copyright lawsuits cast a wide net in naming defendants, though a judge can eliminate any names deemed inappropriate. In this case, however, SheeranB次元官网网址檚 co-writer on the song, Amy Wadge, was never named.
Townsend, who also wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop hit B次元官网网址淔or Your Love,B次元官网网址� was a singer, songwriter and lawyer. He died in 2003. Kathryn Townsend Griffin, his daughter, is the plaintiff leading the lawsuit.
Already a Motown superstar in the 1960s before his more adult 1970s output made him a generational musical giant, Gaye was killed in 1984 at age 44, shot by his father as he tried to intervene in a fight between his parents.
alleging song-stealing, but nearly all settle before trial B次元官网网址� as Taylor Swift recently did over B次元官网网址淪hake it Off,B次元官网网址� ending a lawsuit that lasted years longer and came closer to trial than most other cases.
But Sheeran B次元官网网址� whose musical style drawing from classic soul, pop and R&B has made him a target for copyright lawsuits B次元官网网址� has shown a willingness to go to trial before. A year ago, he won a U.K. then slammed what he described as a B次元官网网址渃ultureB次元官网网址� of baseless lawsuits intended to squeeze money out of artists eager to avoid the expense of a trial.
B次元官网网址淚 feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there is no basis for the claim,B次元官网网址� Sheeran said in a video posted on Twitter after the verdict. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 really damaging to the songwriting industry.B次元官网网址�
The B次元官网网址淭hinking Out LoudB次元官网网址� lawsuit also invokes one of the most common tropes in American and British music since the earliest days of rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� roll, R&B and hip-hop: a young white artist seemingly appropriating the work of an older Black artist B次元官网网址� accusations that were also levied at Elvis Presley and The Beatles, whose music
B次元官网网址淢r. Sheeran blatantly took a Black artistB次元官网网址檚 music who he doesnB次元官网网址檛 view as worthy as compensation,B次元官网网址� who represents the Townsend family but is not involved in the trial, said at a March 31 news conference.
B次元官网网址擜ndrew Dalton And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
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