Ed Sheeran to face jury in Marvin Gaye copyright trial

Ed Sheeran faces accusations that key parts of one of his most famous song were taken from a 1973 hit from Marvin Gaye. ITV News' Rishi Davda reports.

Pop superstar Ed Sheeran has been ordered to stand trial in the US over whether he lifted key pieces of his song Thinking Out Loud from Marvin Gaye's classic Let's Get It On.

The British singer-songwriter's efforts to rubbish the case were recently tossed out by a judge who has ruled Sheeran must make his argument before a jury.

The claim had initially been filed back in 2016 by a part-owner of Gaye's estate. It alleged that Sheeran had "copied and exploited" the hit 1973 song without credit or authorisation.

Sheeran's lawyers argued that the lawsuit was invalid because the combination of simple elements used by the singer were not unique enough to be covered by a copyright in the first place.

The move comes just six months after Sheeran was cleared of copying his hit song Shape Of You.

In the aftermath of the trial, Sheeran hit out at copyright claims stating claims are "made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there's no basis for the claim."

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A date is yet to be set for the New York-based trial, but it is understood that the prosecuting party are seeking around £90 million in damages.

The lawsuit states that Sheeran sought to copy the songs elements, "including but not limited to the melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping".

The Marvin Gaye estate was awarded $5 million (approximately £4.4 million) in damages back in 2018, after a lawsuit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.

Proceedings found the pair had copied parts of Gaye's Got To Give it Up in their song Blurred Lines.